To Hades and Back
by GothicShadows21
Summary: Kronos is gone and all the conflicts contributing to the Titan War have been solved...or have they? Bitter sentiments, high-profile kidnapping, grand theft of the Golden Fleece, and the startling revelation of another child of the Big Three will mean war and the end of Camp Half-Blood should Percy and friends fail to right these wrongs.
1. Thalia Goes Crazy

GothicShadows21: Welcome back to the Percy Jackson Commentary Corner, starring Percy Jackson and Grover Underwood! How are you doing today, guys?

Percy: Oh my Gods, not this again…why do you have to do the color commentary on my fanfictions? And who is he?

 _Percy gestures at a muscular boy in black clothing and makeup. Grover clears his throat_.

Grover: This is Tobias Rayne, son of Hades. He's Nico's brother. I brought him to camp last week with a pride of Manticores on our heels.

Percy: Oh no, not another prophecy…

GothicShadows21: Nope! Not another prophecy, just the new face of Camp Half-Blood! I'll introduce you guys better later. You mind doing the disclaimer for me?

Percy: Kinda…

GothicShadows21: Percy…

Percy: Fine…this clown by the grace of Zeus does not own my franchise

 _GothicShadows21 dives on top of Percy._

Grover: Roll the story! Roll the story! ( _Tries to separate them and gets sucked into the brawl_ )

Chapter One

Percy POV

'Tis the season for Fall cabin inspections, and with about a billion more cabins here, Chiron thought it necessary to have three camp counselors in charge. And, because I can't just seem to get ahead, he chose the three most neat-freak counselors in the whole darn camp: Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite Cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter, and of course, Annabeth…And just like last time she inspected my cabin, I didn't have Tyson to tidy up, so I got hit pretty hard.

"You can't depend on Tyson, you know," she said, moving a pair of my boxers from the floor to my bed with her pencil. "Good Gods, Percy; this place is almost as dirty as Geryon's stables."

"That's not true!" I protested. Annabeth hadn't been with me when I cleaned those things, and the smell alone would have made any Mom faint. "Geryon's stables didn't have any of these lovely light-up corals…"

I clapped my hands and on cue, the lights dimmed, and a barrage of colors filled the room.

"To light up the place," I finished.

For a second, I thought I had Annabeth convinced, and I probably would have gotten a really good score if I hadn't forgotten about the empty pizza box full of two slices of three-day old mushroom pizza.

"Three out of five," Annabeth decided as she scribbled on her clipboard. "And I'm being generous, Seaweed Brain." She looked over my shoulder as though to make sure no one was outside the cabin and kissed me softly. She clapped her hands and the corals darkened and the dull overhead light flicked on again. She looked uneasy, as though something was weighing on her. She squeezed my hand as though to reassure herself and strode out of the cabin.

"What's up?" I asked, jogging after her. Annabeth didn't say anything, choosing instead to check up on Thalia, who had just hung Aegis over her bed.

"Clean as usual, Thalia," Annabeth commented, writing a distinct 'five' on her clipboard while Thalia grinned smugly at me.

"What did Seaweed Brain get?" Thalia asked.

"Only Annabeth gets to call me that," I reminded her warningly. "Want to rephrase that one?" Thalia raised her eyebrow as she pretended to think for a few seconds.

"Kelp-breath?" I rolled my eyes, but nodded reluctantly. Thalia grinned once more and looked at Annabeth again. She seemed to notice what I had noticed in Annabeth earlier, that her heart just wasn't in the inspection at all. "What's up, Annabeth?"

"It's nothing…" she lied, and was almost through the door when Thalia grabbed her wrist.

"What's wrong, Annabeth?" Thalia asked again, much more firmly as she emphasized her name. Annabeth shut her eyes and sighed, as though she knew this was something we were going to find out eventually.

"It's Grover," she said as though this was supposed to clear things up, her hands falling to her side. Thalia and I gaped at her until she went on, "He came across the hill with a whole pride of manticores behind him! A whole pride!"

My mind was still stuck on the fact that Grover almost became an appetizer for a group of crazed monsters when Thalia was already on the bigger picture.

"That many manticores?" Thalia questioned. "But that must mean he found a powerful demigod! A really powerful demigod…" Her eyes narrowed in realization and she now bore the same worried expression as Annabeth.

"I'm going to see Chiron," she announced, and before either of us could protest, dashed out of the cabin and into the snow, slipping and sliding slightly across the frozen ground. I turned back towards Annabeth, who was running her pencil down her clipboard as though to see who was next.

"Is somebody going to fill me in on what's going on?" I asked. Annabeth shook her head wordlessly and strode out of the Zeus cabin. "Hey! Annabeth!"

It was amazing how much ground Annabeth could cover when she was worried about something. She probably would have left me in the dust if I hadn't slipped and knocked her and her clipboard into the snow.

"My Gods, Percy," she sputtered, spitting snow out of her mouth as she got to her feet. "For a son of the sea god, you really aren't that balanced on ice."

"Ha, ha," I remarked, handing back her clipboard. "Are you going to tell what in Hades has you and Thalia so worried?" Thunder rumbled overhead, drawing a nervous glance upwards from Annabeth.

"You just put your finger on it," she said simply.

"What? What in Hades?" I repeated. The thunder clapped harder overhead; the campers around us were staring nervously up at the sky and around, as though they expected a monster to just appear out of thin air and eat them.

"Percy," she said nervously. "Stop saying his name! That's the problem!"

I hate it when she does this… I thought bitterly.

"What's the problem?" I demanded, extremely frustrated with her. "What is wrong with me saying…" Annabeth stared threateningly at me, as though daring me to say Hades' name again. Probably was going to stab me in the chest with her pencil or something like that.

"It's him…Grover found a demigod a few weeks ago; a really, really powerful demigod," she hissed, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "And I don't mean like a child of Apollo or even Athena, either."

"So, the Big Three?" I clarified. Annabeth looked around once more, and nodded. "Another one? Which one? Who is it? Where are they? Is it Ha…" Annabeth wrapped me up in a sort of full-nelson, her hand clamped over my mouth.

"Don't say his name, Percy!" she hissed more urgently into my ear. "Grover told me about it on the camp chatroom. But yeah, he thinks he's a son of Hades." Thunder rumbled overhead once more, though not near as bad as when she said his name.

"So…it's a guy," I said wearily. I glanced over at the Hades cabin, which was unfortunately not on Annabeth's list. There was definitely movement in there as one of the dark curtains over the windows shifted and an ominous face peered past them briefly, and then quickly vanished behind them. That definitely wasn't Nico in there.

"Yes, it's a guy," Annabeth cleared up, glancing down at her checklist for a split second. "Look, don't be mad at Grover. He's probably still shaken up about the whole thing. We'll probably meet him later on tonight during dinner. I've got to get these cabin inspections done or else I got kitchen duty for a month."

"But…" She put her hand on mine, an insistent look on her face.

"I got to go Percy; go find Grover. He'll explain this to you," she said. "I'll see you tonight, Seaweed Brain!" She kissed me quickly and hurried off in the direction of the Ares cabin. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, not at the thought of Clarisse's reaction when Annabeth failed their cabin, but at whatever I was about to hear from Grover. I strode off past the basketball courts, where Apollo and Hermes were squaring off; this has been a morning tradition since Halloween and neither side had been able to scrape together a win streak longer than one in a row. I found Grover sitting on a hill, a half-chewed Green Giant can sitting beside him. He looked even more tense than what I had imagined, and he wasn't remotely amused at his fellow satyrs' failed attempts to seduce the local nymphs.

"What's up, G-man?" I greeted, sitting down beside him, my frustration with him not telling me that he had almost been eaten ebbing away.

"The snow, clouds, increasing levels of carbon dioxide," he mused in a dull voice. Never gets old, that one. Honesty seemed like the best plan of attack in this situation and some part of me, the part that Grover had attached the empathy link to, was pretty sure Grover knew that I had already known.

"Good one, buddy," I said, making Grover snort. "I uh, heard you almost became an entrée for some manticores last night." Grover raised up slightly and looked down his back. A clump of hair was missing near his buttock and the skin was inflamed, like the hair had been ripped off.

"Good thing, because I would have met Tobi's father last night if I had," he remarked. My suspicions were confirmed.

"So he is a child of…"

Grover dove on me, clapping a hand to my mouth like Annabeth. Seriously? Why was everyone so uptight about me saying Hades' name today?

"Don't…say…his…name!" Grover warned as I managed to push his weight off of me. "Yes, he is. His name is Tobi."

"Tobi?" I repeated, raising my eyebrow.

"Well, Tobias, actually," Grover corrected. "Tobias Rayne. He was hanging out with a bunch of guys smoking pot whenever I saw him, but he would refuse every time they passed him the joint. The stench though…that's probably how he's been alive all this time. His parents are heavy drug users, too. That's probably masked his scent from monsters all the way up until…well, a few days ago."

"How old is he?"

"Sixteen," Grover said casually. "Has a driver's license and everything. He stopped hanging around the potheads and next thing we knew, that empousa, Kelli, pretended to seduce him and lead him into the band room, only to try and rip his throat out. I don't know how he got out of that one. We snuck out of school and made for Camp Half-Blood the second he told me what had happened. Only problem is that it's a pretty long drive from Chicago…the minotaur showed up again and destroyed his car when we pulled over into a Waffle House in Philadelphia."

"The Minotaur?" I echoed in awe. "How in the Underworld did you guys escape that?"

"Turns out this kid being involved in the Theater for most of his life taught him sword play," Grover went on. "Freaking wicked. I don't know how he got a hold a Celestial Bronze blade though. Everything went really bad right after he killed the minotaur, because Echidna and her little chihuahua showed up. And they weren't the only ones, either. The hydra, a few giants, that pride of Manticores. Everything that weren't the Kindly Ones was on our tail. His Dad must have been looking out for him too, because we escaped a lot of situations that we shouldn't have." Grover was speaking more quickly the longer he went on, and when he stopped, he gulped nervously. He looked as though someone had just told him that he was going to have to marry Polyphemus after all.

"Has he met with Chiron and Mr. D yet?" I asked him. Grover nodded. "That should have gone over well. Mr. D probably fancies him more than he ever did me."

"He's definitely a looker," Grover remarked, looking pitifully down at a satyr, who had just slipped on ice and knocked the legs out of his three other compatriots. "Like, seriously. He looks like he should be in a band or something. He's got muscles I didn't think ever existed."

 _Great, now the whole Aphrodite cabin is going to be after him…_

A thought had just occurred to me.

"Wait, how did you know he was a son of…our friend downstairs?" I asked.

"He must have been watching Percy, because his mark appeared over his head before I could even get him to the Big House," Grover explained. "Nico doesn't know about him yet, but Gods, I'd hate to be in the Underworld cabin when that family reunion takes place."

He glanced back down at the satyrs; one of them had managed to get himself a full head of steam and was gaining on one of the nymphs before she turned into a snow-covered tree at the last second, causing the satyr to slam face first into the trunk and get blanketed in snow as he lay unconscious. (You know, Titan's Curse?)

"Poor saps," Grover remarked.

"Good one, buddy," I added. Grover snorted for real this time. Thalia came sprinting across the field towards us, her _Marilyn Manson_ hoodie flapping behind her, and her legs distorted muscularly as she drew closer towards us.

"Grover! Percy!" she shouted. Her combat boots lost traction and she collided with us, sending all three of us tumbling down the hill, half buried in snow. "Sorry!"

Grover bleated and pushed himself to his feet, shivering violently as he tried to brush snow out of his fur. I guess if you have fur, the cold sinks much deeper into you. Course I'm more concerned with the possible concussion Thalia just gave me rather than impending frostbite if I didn't get back to my cabin soon.

"Grover, why didn't you tell anyone that you found another child of Hades?" Thalia demanded.

"Thalia…" Grover started, glancing nervously up at the sky as thunder crashed overhead once more.

"Oh, I don't give a damn about that," she excused. "Well, Grover? You didn't bother telling me, or Percy, or even Nico for that matter, you know, 'children of the Big Three'."

"I mean, I told Annabeth," he excused lamely, rubbing his head nonchalantly, looking as though he was bracing himself for Thalia's explosion.

"Oh, you told Annabeth!" Thalia half-laughed, half-shouted indignantly. "But you couldn't tell us! Do you not remember how many of us it took to extract him and his sister from that military school? Don't you think that it would have been smart of you to bring us along for the trip?"

"It isn't that simple, Thalia!" Grover argued back. "You know how hard it was to pinpoint where he was? He definitely knew how to hide himself from monsters. His scent was masked by like, twenty thousand pounds of marijuana, but when it did flicker on, it was strong. Stronger than yours, Percy."

Yeah, because that's not weird at all, your goat best friend saying that someone else's scent is stronger than yours.

"Yeah, so?" Thalia excused.

"So, by the time I found him, he had already ditched his pothead friends and monsters were starting to close in. There wasn't time for me to call for backup!"

"But you had time enough to stop at Waffle House," I pointed out. Grover glared indignantly at me.

"Blah-ha-ha! You try being attacked by monsters every other hour; you work up a real appetite," Grover excused. "Plus, we didn't even get to eat! Stupid minotaur showed up and…" Grover launched into the story about how the minotaur had barreled out of nowhere and nearly flattened them inside a 2016 Camry. Thalia, despite this kid's surprising prowess in combat, looked unimpressed. The conch shell sounded in the distance, signaling dinner.

"You're one lucky goat-boy," she remarked as we started up the hill. "Is he in the Dead Kids cabin?"

"Probably," Grover confirmed. "We'll probably get a glimpse of him at dinner. Just try not to be all 'gaga' over him, Thalia. Last thing I need on my resume is that I dragged back a player demigod." Thalia punched Grover's shoulder hard before she slid into a seat at the 'Big Three Table'. Chiron decided that since there were so few kids of the Big Three that having separate tables was a waste of space, and consolidated them into one. Grover being a satyr could technically sit wherever he pleased, though he usually sat with me whenever Poseidon still had his own table. Nevertheless, he plopped down onto the bench beside me. Thalia and I kept our eyes peeled for the newcomer, trying to pick him out of the mass influx of campers into the pavilion. Thalia, after a few minutes, spotted him skulking behind the Hephaestus cabin.

Grover hadn't overexaggerated this kid at all. He looked at least as old as me. His long black hair, which was strategically messy and somewhat spiked in the back and tumbled into his face so that only one of his eyes was obscured, was flecked with snow. The eye that wasn't covered was boldened by black makeup. His nails were painted black and he wore tight black, pyramid-studded leather fingerless gloves. He sported tight black jeans, knee-high combat boots with chains and spikes dangling from the sides, and a slightly loose leather jacket, in which he had shoved his hands into the pockets. There was upside down star with some sort of squiggly design plastered on what we could see of his black shirt, a design that Thalia seemed to recognize. He looked as though he belonged to a really popular metal band. His muscles bulged through his shirt when he removed his jacket, and as he strode over to the Big Three table, girls' eyes were turning and following him as he walked. The exceptions were Clarisse, and to my relief, Annabeth's. This kid however, was oblivious to it all.

"Ooh! Is that him Grover?" Thalia asked eagerly, her eyes glued on Tobias as he drew closer to our table. Grover nodded his confirmation and, seeing the look on Thalia's face, grinned teasingly.

"Careful Thalia," he crooned. "Artemis will gut you if you jump Tobi's bones."

"Just because I'm a huntress doesn't mean that I can't look!" Thalia retorted. "And plus, she amended that rule that Huntresses aren't allowed to get married. Plus, look at him…"

She made a low humming noise that nearly killed my appetite. Grover and I scooted away slightly on the bench.

"Talk about a child of Hades…"

"Would you like me to get a picture of him for you?" Grover mocked. Thalia kicked his leg hard the table. "Ow! Jeez, I was only joking Thalia!"

"Hey Grover," Tobias greeted, sitting in the seat that Grover and I had vacated. Grover seemed to have developed OCD, or maybe he just didn't like being in the line of fire of Thalia's punter's leg, because he stood up and filled the spot beside her. His voice was low and sounded almost identical to a band I knew Thalia had forced me to listen to before.

"You like…the Black Veil Brides too?" she asked him, almost breathlessly.

"Yeah, they're my favorite band. I've seen them every time they come through Chicago," he replied in his low, seductive voice. "I'm friends with the guitar player Jake Pitts. He gave me a guitar pick." He fished a black guitar pick out of his pocket and held up to Thalia, who blushed so deep that her face was almost he exact shade of the strawberries sitting in front of us.

He held out his hand towards her, in which Thalia shook, her hand trembling violently.

"I'm Tobias," he introduced. Thalia's eyes were larger than moons. "And you are?"

She stuttered for a good five seconds before she managed to regain herself…albeit partially.

"Th-Th-Thalia…" she said almost breathlessly. "Th-Thalia Gr-Grace."

Grover couldn't contain himself; he was giggling uncontrollably, all dignity forgotten, earning himself a sharp elbow to his ribs from Thalia.

Chiron stomped his hoof onto the ground and raised his goblet in the air to toast the Gods. Tobias seemed already aware of the proceedings because he didn't seem at all confused at the campers' tribute into the fire. In fact, he seemed eager to take part in that because he had tipped nearly half of his bowl of beef stew into the brazen.

"O Great Dark One, thank you for watching me on my journey to Camp Half-Blood. May your realm bloom evermore," he muttered ironically. Grover and I exchanged glances with one another, but Thalia looked as though Tobias had just spoken Shakespeare's sonnets to her.

"Hey!" Annabeth's voice hissed into my ear, prodding me sharply in the small of my back with her fork. I nearly leapt out of my shoes at her touch, almost knocking Grover and our plates onto the ground. "Sorry, I forgot…invulnerability."

"Yeah," I breathed, trying to slow my heart rate.

"The whole Athena cabin is talking; is that him?" she hissed, peering past mine and Grover's shoulders, trying not to get caught staring.

"Yep," Grover confirmed. "That's Tobias." He scraped his food into the brazen and mumbled a prayer to Pan.

"Looks like Thalia's smitten," Annabeth commented, watching her smile stupidly as she walked side-by-side with Tobias. "My Gods, she's actually smitten! I haven't seen her like that, ever! She's going to be in a lot of trouble with Artemis if she's not careful!"

"Apparently, Artemis changed the rules about Huntresses not being able to marry," I told, scraping some fruit, steak, and potatoes into the fire and saying my bit to Poseidon. Grover grinned.

"And how she has taken advantage of that!" Grover mused. "Look at her!"

Thalia was twirling a length of her hair with her finger and staring at Tobias with such rapture that I was kind of amazed he didn't have a burn mark in between his eyes…or anywhere else on his face. Annabeth kissed me on the cheek and returned to her table, leaving me and Grover to awkwardly join the Big Three table beside Thalia and Tobias.

"Grover, Grover, did you know that Tobias can play the guitar?" she demanded quickly, looking so impressed that it seemed like no other feat was greater than this one. Grover leaned back slightly and nodded awkwardly.

"Yes, Thalia, I did know that," he said slowly. "He's pretty good at it too. Playing it and smashing it over monsters' heads."

"Yeah, too bad about that," he agreed, stabbing a carrot with his fork and popping it into his mouth. He glanced over towards me. "I'm sorry, I promise I'm not ignoring you, bud. I didn't catch your name earlier."

It was my turn to be shocked and entranced. His eyes were gray; not like Annabeth's, but almost a baby blue. I couldn't help trusting him, that everything he said was scripture, but the sound of Grover clearing his throat jarred me back to reality.

"Oh, um, Percy…Percy Jackson," I said lamely. We shook hands and listened to Tobias tell stories about Chicago, about how he once dragged his mother into the house after she passed out drunk on the doorstep, about how he saved money to go to the Super Bowl and then had to use his money to bail his dad out of jail, about how he made a few mobsters disappear through a fissure he made in the street when they threatened his mother, how the love of his life died from cancer. Thalia gripped every single word he spoke and patted his forearm in comfort, even though Tobias didn't look at all upset.

"Bears' games are something else though," he assured us. "You have no idea the kind of atmosphere in that stadium. It's they electrify the place to make you feel even more excited. I've seen them play in Cincinnati and Cleveland and those places are nowhere near as exciting as Chicago. No offense to you guys if you're Giants fans."

"Nope, Chicago, Chicago all the way," Thalia said quickly. "You caught me! Been a Bears fan since birth!"

Riiiiiiiight…

"I'm more of a Jets fan," I commented, and, seeing, the dumbfounded look on his face, nudged Grover hintingly with my toe.

"Oh, uh, yeah, me too," Grover said, nodding quickly. "Big Jets fan. Go NFL!" I buried my face in my hands, trying to shove what Grover had just said out of my brain. Tobias seemed to have missed it, though; I didn't have to guess whether or not Thalia would have caught it.

Thalia had kicked me and Grover off to the side with Annabeth so she had a log seat with Tobias all to herself at the campfire. She roasted a marshmallow and attempted to share it with him, only for him to turn it down on the premise that it was pure sugar and almost nothing else. She looked extremely put out by that.

"So, what have you guys found out about him?" Annabeth asked. Grover and I glanced over at Tobias and Thalia, who were too busy talking with each other to notice us.

"Well, he's involved with the Theater, his mom is a drug addict and alcoholic, the love of his life died from cancer, he can play guitar and smash it over monsters' heads," I listed off.

"Not that kind of stuff!" Annabeth discarded. "The important stuff! How much does he know about…his world? Our world?"

"Well, he's really good at sword fighting," Grover piped up. "And he's a good enough with music to pass as a child of Apollo, but that's about it. Other than that, he just talks about normal teen stuff, like music and sports."

He glanced over at Thalia and Tobias again before turning back to us.

"Apparently, he's a big Chicago Bears fan, and so is Thalia apparently," he joked. Annabeth squinted in disbelief at Thalia.

"Thalia?! A Bears fan?" she repeated, sounding slightly affronted at this. "She doesn't even follow sports!"

"Caught on, have you?" I remarked. "If Artemis hadn't changed the rule about the Huntresses, she would have thrown herself out. She's in love with him!" Thalia was gazing at Tobias as though he was the sole most beautiful thing in the universe. We tried to ignore them by losing ourselves in the sing-along, but that didn't work, especially since we heard Thalia mention having a record player and a lot of Black Veil Brides vinyl.

"You can come over to my cabin later if you want," she suggested. "Listen to some better music than this."

"Alright, that's it," Annabeth decided, and she stood up and interjected herself into their conversation by asking Tobias if she could borrow Thalia for a minute.

"Ten dollars says that Thalia punches Annabeth for killing her vibe," I bet Grover.

"You could bet a hundred and I still wouldn't take that bet," Grover whispered back, watching as Thalia glared reproachfully at Annabeth. "I hadn't seen Thalia like this, ever. Especially with Nico, and you'd think she'd have been smitten with him, given the way he acts."

Percy: (Holding an ice pack to his head) You didn't have to stick your fingers up my nose, you know…

GothicShadows21: You didn't have to call me a clown either. All you had to say is that I have no control over your franchise and that I shouldn't be sued.

Percy: Should get punched though.

Grover: (Holding his hand to his lip) And why did you punch me in the mouth? I was trying to break you two up.

Percy: I thought you were him! And I already apologized for it like, three times!

Grover: It still hurts…

GothicShadows21: I'll get some ambrosia and nectar in here. Review please, in the meantime!


	2. Tobias Lets Clarisse Kill Him

Percy: You're a horrible person

Grover: Can't you two get along for just five seconds?

Percy: Have you read this thing? And what's worse, everything happens for real! Like, seriously dude! Read this!

 _Percy shoves the story under Grover's nose._

Grover: (finishes reading) Okay…messed up, kinda, but hey, everything turned out okay, right? No one got blown up or turned into a pound of mince-meat or forced to marry a blind cyclops…

Percy: I'd rather get blown up than this…

GothicShadows21: Would you, though?

Percy: (grumbling)…no

GothicShadows21: Eeeeeexactly! I do not own PJO and probably never will, so read and enjoy!

Percy: Thank Zeus he doesn't.

Chapter 2

As it transpired, Tobias' presence emanated a sort-of aura, as Grover described it, that ensnared and entranced those compatible with his typing, a sort of consequence for being a child of Hades. And unfortunately for Thalia, that was exactly the case. Grover said that once she woke up, she'd be okay, but it was probably wise for her stay away from Tobias for a while. Annabeth was off teaching ancient Greek and Grover, doing satyr stuff with his satyr pals (hey, I don't see him for most of the day, sue me), which by default, left me to issue Thalia her wake-up call. I had just finished breakfast in the pavilion, and having just narrowly escaped Tobias and his ensnaring trance, did not notice that I was half-staggering, half-sprinting right into Silena Beauregard, nearly sending us both sprawling into the icy dirt.

"Sorry, sorry!" I apologized, doing my best to catch her empty plate before it smashed on the concrete. Chiron had cantered over conveniently and handed me a broom and dustpan; I had a sneaking suspicion that the centaur had been watching me ever since I came in.

"Oh well; at least, I already finished my Belgian Waffle," Silena excused with a hundred-watt smile. "How's Thalia? Last time I saw her was last night and she was arguing with Annabeth about going back to her cabin. Does she…you know…" She made a drinking motion, her hand clasping an imaginary bottle of booze.

"Not that we know of," I contradicted. "Grover said it has something to do with Tobias' aura…whatever that means."

"You mean that thing that children of Hades are supposed to have?" Silena elaborated. "You know, they have an aura that like really attracts certain people and others, not so much."

"Oh…right," I agreed, having no idea what she was talking about. I started sweeping up the mess, my mind bouncing triangularly between Tobias, Thalia, and Silena's broken waffle plate.

"You okay, Percy?" Silena asked, her eyebrow raised. "You don't seem you know, entirely here. Like you're distracted."

"Not really," I lied, pouring the shards of Silena's plate into a nearby trash can.

"Well, I don't have to teach Pegasus riding until ten; you want some company?"

"Er…"

It wasn't that I didn't like Silena; on the contrary, she was extremely nice and fun to be around, your typical person that anybody would love to be around because she just lights up the place. But right now just didn't seem appropriate. On the other hand, Silena was wearing an expression that plainly said I didn't have any choice in the matter. She seemed like she wanted company, too.

"Uh, okay then," I agreed. We set off towards Cabin One, and for some strange reason, felt as though someone was watching us. Sure enough, when I turned around, Tobias was watching us from the Big Three table, his expression studious and calculating, as though he were analyzing and drawing conclusions based on what he was seeing. Seriously, how much could you get just from watching two people leave a pavilion?

"You seem tense, Percy," Silena repeated. "Something going on with you and Annabeth?"

My first instinct was to respond with 'no', but I had a feeling that Silena would know I was lying. She was empath, kind of like Grover, though it was more like she was a human with a heightened sense of emotion and emotion detection rather than being like Grover and reading me like my emotions were words written in a book. The truth was that Annabeth and I hadn't been hanging out as often as we usually did and based on all the conversations that I've had with Grover and Thalia about it, there really wasn't any discernible reason. Annabeth hadn't undertaken any extra responsibilities, around the camp or anything else. Even her Olympus reconstruction project wasn't that demanding. She just consistently found excuses to not hang out, like she had counselor stuff to do, or designs to critique, or lesson planning. A slight stabbing pain emanated in my stomach, one that I hoped wasn't associated with Annabeth, and therefore, something Silena would notice.

"It's…nothing," I lied. Just as I predicted, Silena knew it. Before she could interrogate me further, I pressed her. "What do you think of Tobias?"

I had no idea why I said that. Silena shrugged.

"I mean, I see what my siblings see in him. Better yet, I see what EVERY GIRL at Camp Half-Blood sees in him," she remarked. "I mean, it's because of that aura he has. But, I just don't feel affected by his aura. Like he doesn't creep me out, but there's something about him that's definitely…out of place."

"This whole place is out of place," I retorted, stopping in front of Thalia's door. Ordinarily, I would have just pounded on her door until Thalia would swing it open so hard that she'd knock me off the steps, but for some reason, something was hanging in my throat and my stomach was feeling extremely strange…sick, yet somehow…lighter…

I would have contented myself with just staring at her door, trying to pensively will her to wake herself up, but Silena sensed the ongoing battle inside my brain. She smirked knowingly at me and knocked gently on the door. When Thalia didn't answer, Silena wrenched the door open and we let ourselves inside.

"I'm uh, not sure if we're allowed to do that," I said skeptically. Silena waved her hand in disregard.

"One, the rule is that you can't be alone in a cabin with a girl," Silena corrected. "And two, I'm here…not for long, but I am here." I hoped that in the next five seconds, Silena had a way of waking up Thalia in which Thalia wouldn't feel compelled to sound the 'creeper' alarm. It had just occurred to me that I had never truly been inside Thalia's cabin, though not without reason. Me and Thalia…Annabeth's best friend…alone in her cabin…I know I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar, but this one was obvious. The inside of Thalia's cabin was dark, almost as dark as the Hades cabin. I probably wouldn't have noticed the swirling storm cloud ceiling if lightning wouldn't flash every few seconds. One particular flash illuminated the cabin so much so that Selena and I could make out where Thalia was sleeping. She was wrapped from her neck downwards in about a million layers of blankets, and her black hair, which seemed almost impossible to be that length, lay disheveled over her face. I guess that I grown so accustomed to it being spiked that I didn't think it possible that it would be that long. I couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked, how graceful and comforted her occasional sighs sounded…nor was I aware that I had been watching her long enough to notice that stuff. I probably wouldn't have if Selena hadn't cleared her throat. Another small lightning bolt flashed, displaying briefly a knowing smirk.

Out of all the Gods and Goddesses that could've been her mother, it had to be Aphrodite…

"Weren't we waking up Thalia?" she pointed out.

"Oh…right," I said awkwardly. I strode past her and inched closer towards her, as though afraid Thalia would suddenly rear up and attack.

"C'mon Percy, she doesn't bite!" Silena hissed into my ear. Why did this seem so complicated all of a sudden?

"Thalia…" I whispered softly, shaking her slightly. Thalia didn't seem to register that anyone was in her cabin, instead contenting herself to roll over so that she was facing me and Silena. A small streak of lightning illuminated the small splash of freckles on her face and long eyelashes that despite years in each other's company, I was not aware of. I shook her shoulder harder. "Thalia…wake up…"

"Five more minutes Grover…" she mumbled groggily. I glanced awkwardly at Silena, who was having difficulty restraining her laughter.

"Thaaaaaaliaaaa…" I called in a soft voice, tapping her cheek.

"Shhhh…Percy is sleeping, Grover…" she muttered, and she smiled as my face burned hot. Silena was doubled up with silent laughter. This has to be a trick of the Gods…it just has to be.

"Thalia!" I said loudly. Thalia's eyes snapped open and didn't register me in time before she had punched me hard in the nose. I staggered backwards, nearly knocking over her nightstand, clutching my nose, which now felt like Thalia had crushed with a sledgehammer. In all the kerfuffle (thank Annabeth for teaching me that one), I made out a split second of a bare shoulder and collarbone before the shooting pain delivered courtesy of Thalia's fist.

"What the hell, Percy?!" she demanded, yanking her covers up over her chin. "What are you doing in my cabin?!"

"Waking you up!" I moaned from the floor, my voice muffled from behind my hands as I massaged my nose. "Which unfortunately worked!"

"Percy I'm not…I'm not wearing anything..." she said through gritted teeth, still not registering that Silena was also in the room.

"I know that, now!" I fired back. "Holy Zeus, that fucking hurt!" Thalia shook her hand gingerly, still holding the blankets over herself as she watched me. Tears were pouring from my eyes as the pain seared, although luckily, I couldn't smell any blood. Yet.

"How…how did you get in here?" she asked.

"Silena let me in," I said, getting to my feet. Thalia's eyebrows raised slightly as she turned to find Silena at the foot of her bed, whose confidence suddenly evaporated now that Thalia was awake.

"Might want to hurry, Thals," Silena advised. "Breakfast was almost over when we left. Tobias may have already left by now."

"Oh, shit!" she remarked. "Is Chiron mad that I didn't show up?"

"Not unless you miss our combat class," I advised. She and I stared awkwardly at each other for a couple seconds as relief set in on her face.

"Can you uh, look away for a couple minutes?"

I turned towards the empty fireplace in her cabin, watched and giggled at by Silena, while my mind went wild with the faint sounds of cloth stretching and snapping against what I presumed to be Thalia's bare skin. She pulled on her combat boots and her jacket and threw the door open, racing towards the pavilion as though her life depended on it.

"Uh…promise not to mention that to anyone?" I asked as we strolled through the camp.

"Wouldn't 'dream' of it," she teased, her eyebrows raising up and down in rapid fashion.

"Screw you," I muttered as Silena trounced away from me, a slight skip in her step and a knowing, taunting smile plastered on her face, probably permanently. My stomach had turned into lead; what if Annabeth had found out that I was in Thalia's cabin while…

Probably would discard the fact that Silena was there, too, even though nothing happened, I thought bitterly. But what was that smile she kept giving me? Silena knew something…she definitely knew something. And she was definitely Aphrodite's daughter, too, based on the way she taunts me. I definitely couldn't tell Grover about this, even though he's all sensitive and everything and probably would understand everything. Annabeth was definitely a no-go. Chiron would just give me some philosophical speech that would make me even more confused than I already was. Mr. D would probably incinerate me if I even so much as asked him to talk.

I did the only thing that made sense right now and slid onto the bench across from Thalia as she shoveled down oatmeal. The only two people aside from us that were still in the pavilion were the Stoll brothers, where were reading something on a smartphone and glancing curiously over at us.

"Wonder what they're up to," Thalia grumbled in between mouthfuls of oatmeal. That same feeling of weightlessness and sickness erupted in my stomach. Her hair was messy, though a strategic sort of messy, even though I knew she had simply rolled out of bed and hadn't done anything to it. A stray strand was teasing the tip of her nose and I had to fight every nerve in my body to move it from her face. That felt like a huge 'no-no' in girlfriend land.

"Dunno," I lied, feeling that whatever they were looking at had something to do with us.

"Thanks for waking me up," she said, pushing aside her bowl. "I still got a few minutes before I got to grab my stuff."

This struck me as odd. No, 'don't ever come into my cabin again'; no 'don't ever try waking me up, again'; not even a poignant threat.

"You're welcome," I said, and she did something that she had never done before. She held my hand. My brain was melting through my entire body and my chest felt as though a strong electric current had just surged through my blood.

"I'm really, really sorry for the way I acted last night," she remarked. "Please don't think any different of me, Percy. It was…"

"Extremely un-Thalia-like?" I suggested. Thalia smiled cutely.

I mentally slapped myself. _YOU DID NOT JUST CALL THALIA'S SMILE 'CUTE'! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!_

I was completely off my game the entire day. Thalia and I were usually pretty well-matched against one another, but today was just not my day. I had been thrown to the arena floor after being disarmed so many times that the taste of dirt was ingrained in my tongue. Even when it came time for the Ares and Aphrodite Cabins' lesson, I couldn't catch a reprieve. Clarisse had earned herself a partnership with Thalia when she remarked about my clumsiness after being disarmed by Thalia for the billionth time. Never in my life had I seen Clarisse pulverized the way she was, almost like Thalia aimed to make her regret her insult. Fat chance of that; Clarisse never regretted those. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Silena Beauregard grinning and waving tauntingly at me.

Tobias POV

Percy has seemed kind of strange today. Like, off-kilter. He could barely string two words together this morning during breakfast, albeit understandable when he was talking to that girl he walked off with. I abandoned all dignity and watched her as she walked, no, floated through camp. She was the single most beautiful girl Zeus could grace the Western Civilization with. The way she smiled…like Artemis sewn heads from her silver arrows to form her smile…and Athena weaving the dark tapestry that was her hair. Her blue eyes were so dazzling, as though Hades had popped two special sapphires from the Earth and fashioned eyes for her specifically. I could hear her laugh from the Big Three table and it sounded better than any song the Apollo kids could compose.

But what should I know? I was a son of Hades, and therefore, by default, outcast. This girl wouldn't like me even I had the guts to approach her, or any camper at all for that matter. I hadn't even been here a week and the whole camp is on edge about me. They think I don't notice them whispering behind their hands as I passed by. That's fine…I didn't need them. I used the opportunity after Greek, which was taught by a girl from the Athena cabin named Annabeth, to go for a run with Grover. He had shown me a trail carved specifically for this kind of thing, which was enchanted by satyrs to change route every single time so that you didn't end up running along a beaten path. My lungs were starting to burn after the sixth mile, and mile nine, I had to rest while _Motionless in White_ screamed out the lyrics to _Soft_.

"Don't quit now!" Grover advised. "We still have sixty-six more miles to go!"

 _Sixty-six?! How much do they think I can take_?

"You go!" I panted, brushing my sweaty hair from my hot face. "I'll catch up!" That was a damn lie…I had no chance of catching up to Grover, especially with him acting like this was nothing and leading me the entire time. Grover clapped a hand onto my back as I pulled my hands behind my head, trying to take in as much oxygen as my lungs could process.

"What's up?" he asked. "You look like something's bothering you."

"Don't *gasp* worry *gasp* about it *gasp*," I assured him, patting his chest weakly. When Grover continued to stare skeptically at me, I went on, "I haven't even been here a week and I feel like the entire camp hates me. They don't want to come up and talk to me; they just stare at me and whisper stuff behind my back."

Grover looked sadly at me.

"Blah-ha-ha! I'm not saying that their reason is justified but…" He puffed, as though steeling himself for what he was about to say next. "You're a son of Hades. And even though he's accepted on Olympus now, it doesn't change the type of power he radiates. That you radiate."

I felt a slight hurt from his words.

"Look," Grover said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I like you! You're a pretty cool dude! I mean, you fought off the Minotaur and the Chimera without any formal training! You can play guitar, you can write, you can draw, you can fight…you're like every kind of demigod rolled up into one awesome package. A package with a really powerful dark side, but…"

"What good is all that if I don't have anyone to share it with?"

"You can share it with me," Grover protested. I stared at him; I had almost said that Grover wasn't enough reception, but I somehow caught a vibe that Grover was the extra-sensitive type. Instead, I contented myself with clapping him appreciatively on the back.

"Thanks Grover," I said. Grover was staring at me like he had an all-access remote to my brain.

"Why are you so nervous about talking to Silena?"

 _So that's her name_ … _that…is undeniably the most beautiful name_. _She is literally named 'The Moon', probably because her aura is about as radiant as moonlight_.

"You could put Hallmark out of business with those thoughts," Grover commented with a straight face.

"I hate you," I shot at him. Grover chuckled and continued to stare expectantly at me, as though he was still waiting for my answer. I shrugged. "I don't know…she just seems way too perfect to go out with some messed up son of Hades. She's beautiful…popular…everyone seems to love her…"

"And I have yet to hear a reason that tells me that you shouldn't go out with her," Grover remarked. I wasn't sure if satyrs could raise eyebrows, but if they could, Grover most certainly was. "

"Going out is a two-way street," I reminded him.

"Yes, I know," Grover said. "Look, I know Silena and she doesn't care about status. At all. She was nice to Percy when everyone treated him like dirt. She'll definitely be nice to you. Just Hades up and talk her, bro. Just…don't feed her a pomegranate and imprison her in your cabin for Winter, okay?"

"I don't know…what would I even say to her?" I asked skeptically. Grover pulled a face like he was thinking really hard on something and I could tell in about five seconds, I was going to get a spoonful of sarcasm. Sure enough…

"This may be a stretch, but you could try saying, HELLOOOO…" Grover advised, his voice turning mockingly deeper as he stretched the word out.

"Funny."

"I'm messing with you," he said. "And stop calling yourself messed up! You're not messed up! You just have a really…tumultuous past…"

A conch horn sounded in the distance; I checked my phone. It wasn't even lunchtime yet…what in the world could Chiron be summoning us, for? Grover's eyes widened suddenly.

"Oh shit, we better hurry! Chiron might be lenient about the details of the trail, but Mr. D definitely won't be," he advised, scampering off so fast that he was out of sight before I could really get up to speed.

Apparently, we weren't the only inhabitants on the trail either. When Grover and I finally found our way out, a few stragglers, mainly from the Hermes cabin were popping up behind us, red-faced and panting as they hurried to the concession of demigods around Chiron.

"Ordinarily, I would wait until dinner to announce this," he began as demigods continued to flood in. "But first, I would like to call Tobias Rayne forward." The whole camp went silent as though sound itself had forgotten how to function. Grover nudged me forward slightly. The campers looked around and as I drew closer to Chiron, they parted to form a path, their expressions a diversity of attitudes. Some looked as though they were studying me, while others, most likely from the Ares cabin, glaring threateningly at me, as though grinding me into the dirt beneath their shoes seemed highly appealing. I stepped up a raised platform and stood to face the demigods beside Chiron. In the middle, I could spot Thalia and Percy, who looked both awkward and happy at the idea of being beside one another.

"This is Tobias Rayne, son of Hades!" Chiron introduced, his hand upon my shoulder. There was an outbreak of muttering, which was quickly stifled after a few seconds. "I want each and every one of you to make him feel welcome here at Camp Half-Blood!" And at this, Chiron threw a look at a rugged looking girl who was looking at me as though pounding my face in was her recreational sport.

"Therefore, this Friday night, we will be hosting Capture the Flag!" Chiron continued. "The blue team will comprise of the following cabins." He pulled a roll of parchment from out of nowhere and reading glasses magically appeared on his nose. I looked at him in shock, although tried to hide it immediately as none of the campers looked surprised at this development.

"Thalia and Percy as captains, comprising of Hades, Ares, and Aphrodite cabins." Chiron read out. I glanced at Thalia and Percy, who both looked slightly happier than they should have at this development. "The red team, captained by Annabeth and Beckendorf, will consist of Athena, Hephaestus, Hermes, Demeter, and Apollo cabins. Satyrs are free to choose their side should they want to participate. That is all! Please return to your activities!"

Thalia, Percy, and Grover were beaming at me when I stepped down from the platform.

"Sweet, the Big Three cabins plus the Ares and Aphrodite cabins, this will be a cinch!" Percy said, punching the air. Thalia shook her head and rolled her eyes, as though Percy's attitude was a normal thing.

"Don't forget that Athena captains the red team; you can bet Annabeth is going to have strategy upon strategy," Thalia assured us. "But so will we. You coming to combat training later?"

She addressed me so suddenly that I was caught by surprise.

"Oh, uh…yeah," I said stupidly. The girl named Silena had just strode up to us alongside the rugged looking girl who was staring threateningly at me during Chiron's speech, and my mind had gone completely and blissfully blank.

"Good," Thalia commented. "We need to get into shape if we plan on flattening Annabeth. Seven o'clock sharp. Don't be late!" She pointed her spear at me in confirmation; I nodded quickly, not wanting to become a Tobias-kabob. Grover elbowed me in the ribs and cleared his throat just loud enough for me to hear.

"Say something," he urged. "She's right there, what could go wrong?"

About a million things, I thought wildly. She says that I smell like a dead person; she laughs at me, she says she doesn't talk to children of Hades…Grover was staring insistently at me as I listed the possibilities in my brain. I felt his hand in the small of my back pushing me progressively harder towards her, shoving me so suddenly that I almost collided with her.

"Oh, hi!" she greeted in surprise, brushing her hair back.

"Um…uh…h-hel-hel…." I stuttered. My voice had malfunctioned; I could hear the cogs and gears in my brain groaning from intense pressure, but nothing seemed to jar it back to normal. Silena was staring curiously at me as I stared at her feet. She wore studded combat boots with a distinct bulge in the side of her right foot, as though she had stowed something there, and judging from its shape, most likely a knife. The rough looking girl beside her brushed her aside and stepped forward, closing the distance between us.

"You got something to say, punk?" she growled at me. My fear suddenly faded, I looked up at her. There was intense loathing in her brown eyes, but despite the aura the other campers may perceive of her, I saw no threat. "Name's Clarisse, daughter of Ares. And I just asked if you've got a problem."

"Yeah, I can tell you didn't brush your teeth this morning," I fired back before I could stop myself. Out of the corner of my eye, Percy was biting his lip in restraint. Clarisse's eyes narrowed menacingly.

"I don't care how special you think you are; you're still nothing but a punk to me," she fired back. "I don't care if you killed Typhon, but we definitely have a problem if you disrespect me or Silena. You better not get in my way Friday night, or else…"

Silena did not look at all disrespected, more or less awkward at the procession in front of her.

"Or else what?" I asked challengingly.

"Or else I run you through with my spear, that's what!" Clarisse threatened, stepping so close that our chests grazed against each other. Thalia and Percy stepped forward in between us, trying to push us apart, but Clarisse wanted no part of it, as she tried to push past Thalia. "You know what, if you think you're such a hot shot, why don't you take me on tonight? One-on-one…I want to see what kind of mince-meat corpse breath produces."

"Deal," I said. Clarisse shrunk slightly and pulled herself out of Thalia's grip, marching away from the procession with her cabin in tow. Silena stared after Clarisse and then looked back at me.

"I'm sorry about Clarisse," she apologized. "She can get intense at times."

 _No kidding_ , I thought.

"Well, I got to go back to class. I'll see you around, Tobias!" She winked and smiled at me as she turned on her heels and ran off towards the pegasi stables. My mind was completely and blissfully blank and my leg muscle had turned to jelly; I probably would have forgotten that I had a duel with the counselor of the Ares cabin if Grover hadn't jarred me back to reality.

"Dude, are you sure you want to do this?" Grover hissed. "Clarisse gets all sorts of magic weapons from her Dad! She'll turn you into mush if you're not careful, even if you've beaten the Minotaur and the Chimera!"

But my mind was made up. I wasn't going to back down from a challenge, especially not from some puffed up Ares camper. But even I couldn't deny, as I arrived at the Archery Range for my first lesson with Chiron, that somehow, my prospects with Silena were inextricably linked to how well I fought tonight.

Percy: Tobias is absolutely insane…

Grover: I tried to talk to him out of it, but he's way too determined to impress Silena. I don't know what to do.

Percy: Short of making this idiot cancel the story, nothing. I mean, it's his fault anyways! He's the one making him do this!

 _Percy points at GothicShadows21_

GothicShadows21: When will you learn that I always have an ace up my sleeve? Just wait…

Percy: I know you always have an ace up your sleeve! And what's worse, something always happens to me…or someone else.

GothicShadows21: You're so smart Percy…want a cookie?

Percy: No

GothicShadows21: Whatever…review please! This fanfic is extremely fun so feedback would really help keep the creative juices flowing!

Percy: If you are at all a decent human being…

GothicShadows21: Percy…

Percy: Please do not read this thing anymore! Have mercy on me…and Grover…and Thalia for Zeus' sake!

GothicShadows21: I'm warning you…

Percy: And post the worst reviews you can think of!

GothicShadows21: That's it!

 _GothicShadows21 chases Percy from the room_.

Grover: Review please! And don't leave any negs… I actually want to see how this is going to turn out! Don't listen to Percy. Now, if you'll excuse me…

 _Grover leaves to break up GothicShadows21's and Percy's fight_.


	3. Tobias Kinda Has a Secret

Grover: You know, one of these days, you're going end up killing each other…

GothicShadows21: (rubbing his black eye) Good…

Percy: (holding another ice pack to his face) Maybe he'll stop messing with my stories if I snuff it…

Grover: Maybe you guys should talk this out…

 _Percy and GothicShadows21 simultaneously glare at Grover_

Grover: Just a suggestion…

Percy: Whatever. So, what happens to me now, Edgar Allan Poe?

GothicShadows21: Aside from you learning a new author, you're just going to have to wait and see…

Percy: (Starts to sit up and winces, forcing himself to sit back in his seat) Oh, it hurts too much to care…

GothicShadows21: Seconded…

Grover: Should I do the disclaimer then?

GothicShadows21: Knock yourself out, Grover…

Grover: GothicShadows21 does not own the Percy Jackson franchise, unless Rick Riordan, by some strange fate, decides to sell the rights to him.

Percy: He better not…

Chapter 3

Tobias POV

It didn't hit me that I was facing the Ares Cabin counselor without any sort of formal training until dinner. My stomach had twisted itself into a Gordian knot as I stared at my suddenly unappetizing chef salad. Grover looked as though he was attending the funeral of a very close friend and kept patting my shoulder reassuringly. Thalia and Percy also looked grim despite their continued attempts at optimism.

"Well, at least Clarisse doesn't have her electric spear," Percy pointed out. "That's always a plus."

"You mean good thing it shattered after electrocuting a Lydian Drakon that she fought singlehandedly," Thalia contradicted. "Yeah, at least that isn't the case."

I had studied Greek Mythology enough in school to at least know what a Drakon was and that for her to have killed one singlehandedly definitely did not improve any odds on me. I glanced around the pavilion in an attempt to distract myself from my impending doom, only for my gaze to fall upon the Ares cabin and subsequently, Clarisse. Her eyes looked murderous and she was pounding her fist as she spoke to her cabin mates. She caught my eye and she grinned wickedly, her mental promise loud and clear from my position. A few tables away I guess was the Aphrodite cabin, mainly because Silena was sitting there. She chatted animatedly with a blonde-haired girl, her blue eyes glinting in the faint fire light, making them look like chips of crystal. A wave of ice cascaded into my stomach as I considered how stupid I was going to look in front of her.

 _Well, I_ ' _ve probably looked worse_ , I thought optimistically; a small part of me thought even this much was too hopeful.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, Percy took on the entire Ares cabin by himself when he was eleven," Grover eased. "And he won, too! He even broke Clarisse's first electric spear!"

"But he was standing in the water though," Thalia pointed out. "So, his powers were strengthened. Of course, Clarisse and her cronies wouldn't be able to stand up to him once he was in his element."

"Yeah…I'd have to be in a graveyard or something for that to happen," I grumbled, stabbing a piece of spinach with my fork. I ordered a chef salad for dinner through my plate, but I found that after about three bites, I really wasn't hungry. That and green vomit I can imagine doesn't look too appealing.

"How about we sneak off to the arena?" Percy suggested. "That way you've got a bit of practice in before you get pulver – I mean, face Clarisse!" Thalia elbowed him hard in the ribs, looking wholeheartedly oblivious.

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, doubting that this would at all improve my chances. We watched Chiron carefully as we slipped away, who was too absorbed in conversation with Mr. D to notice our proceedings. In the corner of my eye, I could notice Annabeth watching us suspiciously as we hurried further and further away. Or at least, she was watching Percy and Thalia, the cogs in her brain looking as though she were doing a calculus equation in her head.

The dummies were looking forlorn as we approached, and the arena seemed somehow quieter. Maybe because we weren't supposed to be here in the first place.

"So, do you have any preference for weapons?" Thalia asked, scooting a mechanical-looking dummy to the center of the arena. I felt my face burn; I really hadn't thought about the kind of weapon I would fight with. Fighting with a sword seemed like the easiest thing in the world, but it didn't seem right for some reason.

"No," I said shamefully. "I mean, I found these knives in an alley back in Chicago. I picked them up because, well, I had just run away and didn't really have anything. And plus, they looked kinda cool." I pulled a couple daggers out from my back pocket. They looked as though were made out of bone, but had a vague metallic appearance, like an iron-bronze alloy or something. Three spikes protruded from both sides of the blades and there was an eerie, grinning skull separating the hilt from the blade.

"Bone daggers?!" Thalia shouted in surprise. "How did you get a hold of these?! These are supposed to be in Hades' personal armory! That must mean…"

"Nico was watching him…" Percy interjected. "He planted those there! He must have broken into the armory to get these. Do you know how to use them?"

I shook my head, which made Thalia and Percy look even more dejected, like all hope had gone from the world. He made them sound more like a set of power tools rather than weapons that might save my skin from Clarisse. He shot a meaningful look at Grover, who looked back at him in a, 'I'll-tell-you-later' sort of way.

"Well, let's just set this thing on easy and see how well you do," Thalia decided, reaching behind the dummy's back and clicking something on. A vague whirring emanated from the contraption as it creaked to life.

"Wait, what are we…?"

Before I could even finish the question, the dummy had delivered a vicious uppercut to my jaw. I had just enough time to register a dull, metallic bang before I felt my feet leave the ground. I soared through the air, minute stars winking just before my face as a rough pain seared in my jaw. I skidded to the other end of the arena, my legs flopping lamely back onto the dirt.

"This is going to be a loooooooong night," Percy remarked dispiritedly, jogging up to me and waving a damp towel over my face. I sat up slightly, feeling as though my head had been cleaved in half; the dummy was flexing its mechanical muscles and making rude gestures in my direction. "Did Beckendorf really have to add that feature?"

"You know Beckendorf; Annabeth gave him the schematics from Daedalus' laptop and he ran with it," Thalia commented as the dummy skipped around and spanked itself. "That much is just…"

"Really disturbing?" Percy interjected. I rubbed my jaw determinedly and gripped my daggers with the points against my body, advancing on the dummy with vengeance. "Tobias, wait! There's something you need to know about that thing before you…"

 _BANG!_

"Start training," Percy finished, watching on as I skidded across the ground, coming to a rest as his feet.

"Long, long night," Thalia commented, wincing painfully as the dummy started doing cartwheels. Seriously? Who installed the gloat function in this thing? "Should we turn this thing off and just teach him some pointers against Clarisse?"

"Probably," Percy agreed. "Go ahead and turn off Beckendorf's training dummy, Grover."

I had just gotten to my knees when after a bit of clanging, Grover's nervous voice had announced, "Uh, guys?'

I had just looked up when the dummy straightened, wiped its blank face with the back of its hand, and sprinted towards me and Percy. I felt its shoulder drive into my breadbasket and placed its knee across my chest, probably to position me for the beating I was about to suffer. I did the only thing that made sense and shoved my dagger into the groove where its jugular should be. The dummy's eyes glowed brighter and glared down at me before it slapped me hard across the face. Maybe this thing's purpose was to let me know what I was in for. Percy tackled the dummy, only for it to wrestle him onto his back, its hands drifting dangerously towards his throat.

"Thalia! Thalia! Do something!"

"Do what? Egg him on?" Thalia feigned uselessness, although her hands were drifting almost casually to the sheaf on her back, where a collection of arrows and a silver bow hung.

"Thalia!" Percy begged as the dummy delivered a backfist to Grover's nose and had hurled me by my _Motionless in White_ shirt over its head. Thalia notched an arrow in her bowstring and launched it into what I presumed was the control switch. The dummy shivered and twitched awkwardly before it collapsed on top of Percy. I got to my feet and helped Grover heave the thing off and pulled Percy to his feet, as he glared at Grover.

"Good Gods, we're going to get slaughtered this Friday if this happens," a gruff female voice sounded. I whipped around to see Clarisse leading the procession of Ares campers, who were proceeded by the Aphrodite, pretty much every other camper. "Hope you don't mind, but I brought a few friends to watch me pound your bones in."

"I didn't realize that you had friends," I fired back. Clarisse's mouth frowned unpleasantly.

 _What is wrong with me_? I thought furiously.

"We'll see how big your mouth is after I shove my fist into it," Clarisse said, punching her fist into her hand. "Are we going to do this, or should I just let the bucket of bolts keep kicking you around?"

Thalia looked around sadly at me, reluctantly acknowledging that we were out of time to prepare. She, Percy, and Grover then clamored to fit me into armor, trying to drown my nerves with words of encouragement, which were far too potent for them to subdue.

"Get in close; Clarisse likes to fight with a spear and is no good at close quarters," Thalia advised, tightening the straps on my breastplate.

"And don't expect her to play fair either," Percy contributed, and I had a feeling that he was speaking from personal feeling rather than a third-hand observation. "Expect anything and everything from her."

"You killed a Chimera!" Grover encouraged.

"Yeah," I said in a soft voice in an octave much higher than what I was accustomed to. I turned around, gripping my daggers tight in my palm as Clarisse smirked at me. She took up her spear and shield and began to circle the edge of the arena as Thalia took her position in between us.

"Okay combatants," Thalia began, a nervous flash in my direction. "You know the rules: no maiming, no killing, disarm and pin, that's it."

"Yeah, yeah," Clarisse grumbled. "Just start the butt-kicking already."

"Alright," Thalia accepted. "Fight!"

I had a couple seconds acknowledgement of an eruption of sound, jeers from the Ares cabin, cheers from what I hoped was the Aphrodite cabin and Silena. I could make out Annabeth standing against the railing beside a tall, burly looking African American guy, who were watching me keenly. A few feet to the left of them stood Silena. She was cheering and clapping as enthusiastically as any of the other campers. I caught her eye and she smiled encouragingly. My nerves were now set; I charged.

Clarisse swept me aside, sending me stumbling past her. I whipped around to see her smirking tauntingly at me, gesturing for me to come closer. Her red shield was wrapped in chain and her spear was silvery and glassy looking. Undoubtedly, they were magic and I wasn't too keen on discovering what they were about to do to me. I crept forward slightly as Clarisse mimicked me, lunging when I thought her close enough, my dagger sinking through what would have been Clarisse's eye socket had she not swept me aside once more. I glared at her; she was toying with me. I was just a toy to her and she had all the time in the world have her fun with me.

"Are you going to fight me or are you just going to keep running?" I blurted out, instantly regretting it when it left my mouth.

"If you insist," Clarisse promised. In a split second, she had shifted offensively, bounded forward onto one leg and sprung so ferociously that her spear thrust would have punctured my head like a watermelon. I ducked and for a split second, smelled smoke and singed hair before she pulled her spear back for another strike. I swiped with my dagger, which Clarisse parried with her spear and spun out of my hand. "Pathetic!"

Her leg connected with my chest, sending me staggering backward onto my butt in the dirt. She kicked my dagger back over towards me and began pacing impatiently, like a tiger, bored in its cage.

"Pick it up! I actually want this to last a while!" she snarled at me. I grabbed the dagger wearily and gotten to my feet. Clarisse bounded forward once more and leapt, driving her spear downward towards my neck as she began to descend. The spear head had ignited once it began its thrusting movement forward and immediately extinguished when Clarisse retracted it. I staggered sideways, tripping and falling into the dirt, which made the Ares cabin howl with derisive laughter. I ducked another spear strike and stabbed with my dagger, which Clarisse had blocked with her shield. An intense burning vibration arced up my arm and into my neck, almost as though it had been suddenly electrified….

 _Son of a bitch_ …I thought bitterly.

Clarisse's ham fist connected with my nose, augmented by its iron grip on whatever kind of spear she was holding. I staggered once more, tasting the blood that was dripping into my mouth. Eyes watering, I couldn't see a thing, which I'm sure Clarisse relished. She smacked her shield against my face, which fried the skin on my cheek, and knocked one of the daggers out of my hand back into the dirt. She kicked me in the chest once again, sending me crashing against the pole right beside Silena. Anger spurring me, I did the only thing that made sense and hurled my other dagger at Clarisse. I was sure that I had missed her as Clarisse had jumped backward at the last second, but the look in her eye was murderous. All of a sudden, that didn't seem to faze me. I felt…powerful…even without my daggers.

"You'll pay for that!" Clarisse hissed, clenching her fist tighter around her spear. The back of her hand had miraculously been scratched. The wound looked black rather than red with blood, but I was so angry that I hadn't a care why. Clarisse had charged again but this time, I followed Thalia's advice and got in close, knocking her leg out from under her as she attempted her leaping maneuver. Clarisse scrambled to her feet and lunged with her spear. Unable to register the heat, I seized the spear pole and jerked it so suddenly that Clarisse had face planted into the ground. Something in the back of my brain was hissing at me to retrieve the daggers, now.

"You worthless pile of smelly socks!" Clarisse shrieked, who seemed slower at collecting herself this time. The crowd of onlookers laughed at her insult, though it seemed more because it didn't really make sense. Clarisse was panting, gasping as though suddenly winded. She was sweating heavily even though she hadn't really been exerting herself. She stepped forward gingerly, her legs shaking beneath her weight, and thrust her spear languidly, almost lazily. I parried and spun the spear out of her hand and onto the ground. Even through the intensity of the fight, I couldn't help but notice that Clarisse's face was extremely pale, like she was suffering from heat stroke. Her shield was hanging loosely from her arm, slipping when I placed a kick to her chest, sending her sprawling back onto the floor. I was starting to acknowledge the confidence filling my chest when I started to notice things. Thalia and Percy looked dumbstruck. Not like they couldn't believe what they were seeing, more that something was wrong. Something was very wrong. I looked at the expressions of the other campers, most of whom bearing a slightly watered-down version of their expression, save for Annabeth, Beckendorf, and Silena.

"What's going on with Clarisse?" I heard Annabeth ask Silena. "She's a much better fighter than this! What's going on?" Silena was shaking her head in disbelief, trying to will the answer out of the scenery in front of her.

"I'm going to get help!" I heard her shout and to my heart's displeasure, she forced her way through the crowd, sprinting out of the arena, most likely to find Chiron. The crowd wasn't cheering anymore; they sat in a stunned, fearful silence. I sheathed my daggers and stepped forward towards Clarisse before the worst sound I had ever heard in my life burned the strings of my heart.

"NO! CHRIS! DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE ME?!" she screamed, backing away quickly to the edge of the arena. Her eyes streamed with tears, bursting with the kind of fear and hurt associated with one thing: betrayal. "DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR OWN GIRLFRIEND CHRIS? PLEASE DON'T CHRIS! I LOVE YOU!"

Clarisse had collapsed back onto the ground, falling apart at the seams as I stood before her, crying uncontrollably. I wanted nothing more this moment than to put my arm around her and reassure her that I wasn't Chris, whoever that was, and that the real Chris was safe. I was just about to do so when Clarisse's arm shot forward, as though to stop me delivering a killing blow!

"CHRIS! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Tobias!"

Chiron's voice boomed in the silence. He cleared the pole that defined the edge of the arena. His voice wasn't furious or even threatening, more scared and, I might have been imagining it, knowing.

"Blackjack!" Clarisse shrieked, crawling feebly towards Chiron and hugging one of his sturdy legs, a fearful, pleading look in her eyes. "Please…save me…"

Chiron gazed sadly down at her, looking almost as dispirited as she did as he stooped down, grabbed her gently by the shoulder and coaxed her onto his back, where she passed out. Chiron galloped away swiftly, racing time itself towards the Big House. About a million pairs of eyeballs had shifted onto me, but I had only care for a few. I found Grover, Thalia, and Percy huddled together about ten feet away. Grover's was the easiest to read, his eyes plainly inviting me to follow them to somewhere secret to discuss the thing that they too, had worked out. My eyes swiveled once more to find Silena's gaze. There was no encouragement in those blue crystals anymore; those lustrous pigments now housed contempt and resentment. My heart sank dismally as I trudged off with Thalia, Percy, and Grover, trying to ignore the shattering sensation in my chest as we proceeded onwards.

Percy POV

Thalia and I looked fearfully shocked at each other, then turned back towards Tobias, the only person in the arena who looked more shocked than…well, pretty much everyone. He was staring down at his daggers in horror, like they were a friend who suddenly turned ferocious. Grover was watching him, his mouth wording soundlessly. It wasn't the fact that Tobias had miraculously (albeit on a technicality) won the duel, more the fact that he even had weapons like that. How the hell could Nico have given him those weapons?

Tobias' eyes found us and Grover signaled for him to follow. Thalia led us to the beach, our feet crunching in the sand and the waves crashing upon the shore mingling with the sound of campers reminiscing what they had just witnessed. I made out Annabeth walking alongside Beckendorf, who gave him a meaningful pat on the arm when she spotted us and sprinted our way. I reached out to hold her hand, but she seemed very concentrated to avoid that, instead focusing on Tobias, so I feigned a sore shoulder, rotating it to loosen the muscle.

"How could you have used those daggers against Clarisse?" Annabeth hissed. "She's your teammate! A fellow half-blood!"

"Annabeth, calm down…" Thalia eased, but Annabeth ignored her.

"I am not calming down!" Annabeth snapped back, which made Thalia's eyes narrow. "How could you knowingly use those things against her?"

"Annabeth, listen…" I implored, but she still wouldn't listen. But before, she could go on chastising Tobias, he had lashed out.

"I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD DO!" Tobias shouted over her, which made Annabeth go silent. "I didn't know that they would do that, or else I would have never used them! I just thought they were normal knives! They didn't do anything to the practice dummy!"

"Of course they wouldn't do anything to the practice dummy!" Annabeth fired back. "They're cursed! They're probably imbued with some Underworld drug that makes you hallucinate and go lucid. The dummy is an automaton, for Zeus' sake! You can't do stuff like that to machines!"

Her eyes narrowed like she had a sudden idea and then dashed away towards the arena, returning a few minutes later with a sickly black looking residue over a handkerchief. It looked like mold…but much, much worse.

"That was in the dummy's neck, by the way!" Annabeth snapped back. "That's a choice torture drug in the Underworld, I'll have you know! Alecto's favorite. It induces hallucinations, slows and speeds up your heart rate, makes you sweat…it gives you the taste of death without actually killing you. I know Clarisse is hard to get along with, but I would have never have used something sick like this against her!"

She tossed the rag at Tobias, who caught it and stared transfixed down at it, as though the black stuff was hypnotizing him, and then rounded on me and Thalia.

"And you!" she growled. "I know we're on opposite teams this time, but I can't believe you would pick someone like this to be on your team! His methods…"

She shot a nasty look at Tobias before looking back at us.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Annabeth's words cut me almost as bad as Tobias' daggers, but Thalia looked ready to kill. Her faint silver glow shone slightly brighter and the fear that Annabeth was about to end up on the wrong end of Thalia's spear churned in the pit of my stomach. She stepped forward, her disheveled black hair hanging loosely over her burning electric blue eyes, making her look even more intimidating than she did with it spiked, and she was jabbing a black fingernail into Annabeth's chest.

"You better watch who you're talking to, Wise Girl," Thalia hissed, a sense of power exuding from her. Annabeth's eyes narrowed in incredulous offense.

"Don't call me…"

"I will call you whatever I damn well please!" Thalia cut across. "None of us knew what those daggers would do! Grover didn't, Percy didn't, Tobias didn't…but don't you dare insinuate that Tobias meant to do that to Clarisse. You saw what happened in that arena! The fact that you want to ignore his stopping the duel is not our fault! So unless you want to fight with me, I'd shut my mouth if I were you…"

Annabeth glared back at Thalia, looking as though fighting Thalia was a small price to pay to speak her mind. I pushed my way in between them and reached out for her hand, which she jerked back.

"Don't touch me, Percy!" she snapped, her stormy grays still bearing over my shoulder at Thalia. "I can't believe you guys! You're actually defending him! I…I…" She sighed, gathering her thoughts.

"I hope you guys can live with yourselves," she snapped. "I'll see you this Friday night, and if you dare use those daggers on anyone on my team…" The fire in her eyes finished her sentence for her and she turned on her heels and stormed off back towards the cabin, kicking a random crab in her anger, which soared a few feet away, its legs and claws waving frantically as it flew, and landed on its back. Grover hurried forward and set the crab upright, yelping as it took a jab at him. Thalia turned towards me, her electric blue eyes glinting in the faint moonlight, but in the peace of the water behind us, they weren't at all scary. She didn't need to speak for me to get the message.

 _My cabin…tonight._

Grover: Woah, that was intense…

Percy: You actually have me intrigued, Bram Stoker. I'm impressed.

GothicShadows21: Whoa, two new authors? Careful Percy, or someone may accuse you of being a reader.

Percy: *blushing* shut up

GothicShadows21: Hate to cut this commentary short…

Percy: Thank God…lets' get out of here Grover before he invites us to Waffle House again

GothicShadows21: Oh please, you love going there. Even if they don't make blue waffles. But in the meantime, review please! And tip your Waffle House patrons especially well! Midnight breakfast is on you, Grover, since you lost that bet…

Grover: Aw, man…


	4. Grover Knows Annabeth's Secret

Gothicshadows21: That was a great decision…thanks for the treat Grover

Grover: It wasn't a treat! I lost a bet! Which didn't include me putting jalapenos in my hash browns by the way!

 _Grover glares at Percy_

Percy: You lost a bet G-man…gotta 'pay' up

Gothicshadows21: Good one

Grover: No, not good one! The deal was I pay, not burn my tongue off with double jalapeno hash browns! I won't be able to taste anything for a week!

Gothicshadows21: I'll get you some milk. Mind doing the disclaimer for me again, Grover?

Grover: Sure…Gothicshadows21 does not own the Percy Jackson franchise…nor an ounce of compassion.

Gothicshadows21: Darn straight, I don't.

Percy: Seconded

Chapter 4

Percy POV

Thalia was extra careful sneaking me into her cabin, her back towards me the entire time until she shut the door behind her. My mind was racing too much for me to notice that this was the second time today that I had been snuck into Thalia's cabin. She flipped on the light switch on the wall, shutting off the swirling thunderstorm on her ceiling and blinding us both with bright, albeit dull light, and slid the black curtains shut over her windows. Not that I ever thought about it a lot, but I had always wondered how Thalia decorated her cabin. But as she hurried about the room, sliding off her combat things, hanging her bow and quiver of arrows on nearby hooks, and pulling off her combat boots, I had no interest in looking around. She cast a quick look into a nearby mirror hanging just above her dresser and ran her hands chaotically through her hair, shaking her head just enough to flick the hair away from her eyes, and then turned towards me. I didn't have time to avert my eyes to anything so that it didn't seem like I was just staring at her. But she didn't seem to mind.

"You can sit down, you know," she remarked, knocking my feet out from under me with a desk chair, and sinking down on the edge of her bed, shrugging out of her spiked leather jacket to reveal a black Marilyn Manson sweater, which exposed the tops of her shoulders and teasingly hinting the presence of her collar. My face was burning slightly.

"Like what you see?" she asked. My heart leapt into my throat and starting pulsing rapidly.

"What? I wasn't…I didn't mean to…"

Thalia looked confusedly at me, her eyebrow raised; I took this as the cue to close my mouth and figure out whatever the Hades it she was talking about.

"I was asking if you liked my room," she said slowly and carefully. "You know, because it was dark when you snuck into it this morning?" My face felt like it was on fire and I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that I was blushing. Course, why Thalia was able to make me blush, I have no idea.

"Oh…yeah…right…" I breathed, trying to ignore the image of Silena's knowing smirk swimming to the forefront of my brain.

With Thalia being the only occupant, the Zeus cabin was pretty much like a really tiny house with a lot of guest beds. Not an inch of wall had been wasted, though, or maybe Thalia REALLY hates looking at electric blue walls. Nevertheless, it was really interesting to watch the wall transition between typical emo teen wall decorations, like band and movie posters, saved concert tickets, and old pictures of her and Annabeth to…well, stuff that I would have never guessed about Thalia…like an ability to draw. There were a whole bunch of pencil and charcoal drawings tacked side-by-side, almost as though Thalia was trying to draw Camp Half-Blood piece by piece. The most prominent in my opinion was in the direct center, and I guess Thalia must have loved this one the most, especially since there seemed to be three different renditions adjacent to one another, one in pencil, another in charcoal (which was by far, the most intricate), and what looked to be Thalia's attempt at painting. It wasn't half bad, but blending definitely was not her forte. And what was even more, my ADHD wasn't even attempting to act up as I stared at the museum section of her walls.

"Holy crap, Thals," I commented, staring up at the picture of what looked to be a full moon, its beams reflecting off the glassy waters of the adjacent sea. My picture-perfect scene of serenity...whatever that felt like. "You never mentioned that you could draw."

"That's because I don't mention it," she confirmed, a sneaky grin plastering her face. "I'm Thalia Grace, the certified bad-ass of Camp Half-Blood, not Thalia Grace, the secretly introverted artist." Her feet dropped to the floor and she stood purposefully beside me, gazing up at the drawing.

"How come I never heard anything about you being able to draw?" I asked her again. Thalia sighed, then shrugged.

"I mean, Grover knows," she half-contradicted, and I ignored the slight pang of jealousy towards Grover. "But that's it…Annabeth's been too busy sweeping through Daedalus' laptop with Beckendorf to create overconfident practice dummies to really be interested in what I do, anyways."

There was a slight edge to her voice that I had never heard there before. I looked at her just as she decided to sink back onto the edge of her bed.

"Siri, play _Soft_ by _Motionless in White_ ," she called.

"Sure thing, Thalia," a mechanical voice echoed from somewhere, and a few seconds later, a hard, gritty rift of electric guitars burst from the walls, almost as though we were at a concert. I sat down beside her, watching her as she watched her wall.

"If there's one thing being in the Huntresses has taught me Percy, it's that the world is a lot more beautiful than I originally gave it credit for," she asserted. "I was surrounded by its beauty on a constant basis; all I needed to do was open my eyes." And at this, she looked pointedly at me. My heart leapt into my throat as I gazed into her electric blue eyes and my breathing felt…oddly shorter and more constrained.

No…not…Thalia…

"You're really good, Thalia…" I managed to say, trying to lessen the sudden tension in my torso. "And not to sound weird… or anything…"

"Which means that I'm about to be creeped out," Thalia mused, a joking grin appearing momentarily on her face. I breathed, gathering my courage.

"I think your hair looks…really good this way," I complemented, changing midway the complement I had originally chosen. Thalia smiled appreciatively at me and started waving her legs lazily through the air, softly kicking me every fourth kick. I didn't mind it…not one bit.

"There's a lot more beauty in Tobias than Annabeth…or really the rest of the camp gives him credit for," Thalia went on. "You believe that he had no idea about those daggers, right?"

That was a hard question to answer. Sure, maybe he wasn't entirely certain about what the daggers would do, but he had this odd urge to use them in battle, like it was an obligation. And Grover said he's gotten ahold of a sword too, but he's only used it a few times.

"Yeah, I do," I agreed. "I think Nico knows, though. Why he would give them to Tobias, though..."

"Yeah…it's strange…" Thalia went along. "Annabeth's changed, Percy...she hasn't been the same since the Battle of Manhattan. She wouldn't even listen to Tobias' side of the story, even though she saw what everyone else saw and still chose to get mad at him."

"So, what are you saying?" I asked, raising my eyebrow testily at Thalia. "Are you trying to say something in Annabeth snapped during the Battle of Manhattan?" Thalia looked unsure, unsure in the sense that she didn't want to say whatever was on her mind. She stared sadly at me like I was somebody on their deathbed.

"I think Luke's death broke something in her," she finally announced. "I mean, yeah, you two have had this thing for Zeus knows how long..." Her voice was slightly bitter as she spoke, but she hitched it back almost immediately.

"I don't know, Perce…I just really hope I'm wrong…"

"Wrong about what?" I asked, almost frantically. Thalia shook her head, her gaze pointedly averted from me. "What do you want to be wrong about, Thalia?"

"It's nothing too important to worry about, Percy…" She flicked her eyes on me for a couple of seconds before she said, "I think we should get some sleep; I'll walk you back to your cabin."

Feeling sort of irritated at Thalia, I waved her offer aside, but not without a longer-than-average hug from Thalia, sealed with a slight squeeze and a sad look before I strode from her cabin. In the back of my mind, I could hear a tiny Grover calling me an idiot over and over again.

Tobias POV

I could hear Grover tapping his hoof nervously in the other room as I stared at my reflection in the mirror of my cabin bathroom. My eyeshadow-eyeliner makeup had run slightly from the amount of sweat that ran during my duel with Clarisse. I could see Selena's and Annabeth's looks of deepest contempt, hear the silent astonishment of the crowd as I stared at my more-loathed visage. Plastered in the forefront of my mind was everything that led up to Clarisse's look of utmost terror, her languid movements, her lackluster battle-style, the scream…The scene cut back to my glimpse of the blackened scratch on her hand, the scratch my dagger – I had made.

I pulled a makeup wipe and rubbed my eyes clear of makeup and strode back outside towards Grover, who gave me a half-hearted encouraging smile.

"On the bright side, you beat Clarisse," he piped up, and under his breath, I heard him mutter: "Technically."

"Yeah, that's a bright side," I remarked sarcastically. "The fact that I just turned the entire camp against me is no big deal. The fact that I nearly killed someone with stolen cursed daggers that my brother planted for me to find." I looked resentfully at Grover and sank down beside him on my bed. Grover patted my shoulder comfortingly, only for me to shrug him aside.

"I just screwed our capture the flag team, too," I added gloomily.

"You didn't screw the team," Grover contradicted. "We still have the rest of the Ares cabin, not to mention whatever satyrs join up."

"So…just you."

Grover opened his mouth to argue, but closed it, probably acknowledging the fact that I was right. After today, most of – oh, who am I kidding – all of the satyrs would probably join Annabeth's team. Forget being a child of Hades; who'd want to be the person that joined the team with the guy who nearly killed a fellow camper with cursed daggers, in which, the two campers 'coincidentally' had some argument hours earlier.

"I'm running away, Grover," I announced, getting to my feet. "I'm not staying here; everything I do gets someone hurt. I caused all that trouble on the way here and when I ran away from home. I'm not causing anymore trouble…maybe I'll get eaten by the Hydra or Carcinos when I leave…it'll be a huge favor for the world."

"Tobi, no!" Grover shouted, leaping to his feet, blocking my way to the door. "You can't leave camp! Do you know what would happen to you if you left? Every single monster in the woods would come after you! And plus, Chiron would never let you get far! You're too dangerous to be left alone! And worst of all, your leaving would devastate the only people who actually believe and LIKE you!"

"But…"

"Thalia, Percy, and I would be torn up if you left the camp!" Grover interrupted. "And whether or not she wants to admit it, so would Annabeth and Clarisse and Silena and a lot of other people. You're still just in shock from the fight."

He sighed and pursed his lips in a throwing caution to the wind sort of way. "You want to go for a run? Take your mind off things?"

My initial thought was to refuse, but to be honest with myself, kicking Grover out of my cabin would only make me feel worse and I damn sure would not be able to sleep tonight, even if I ran that whole damn trail.

"Yeah, sure," I grumbled. "I just need to get my cold weather stuff on."

I changed into my Nike Pro-Combat cold weather gear, pulled on a hoodie and some gloves and followed Grover outside. We were especially careful as we made our way towards the trail, mainly because I wasn't entirely certain whether or not I had a more distinct scent to the patrol harpies Grover told me about. I really wasn't keen on finding out, though. A quick glimpse to our right caught a silhouette of a couple leaving the Zeus cabin. Whoever they were, neither seemed too concerned with being caught out of bed by the harpies, more like they trying to get away from something…like thoughts.

"Is that Percy?" Grover whispered, careening his neck to get a better look. "Why is he leaving Thalia's cabin?"

"Dunno," I said in a low voice, keeping my very plausible theory to myself.

The next few days leading up to Capture the Flag were absolutely horrendous. No matter what Grover said about there being a rather sizeable group of campers who would have dismayed at my absence, I seemed to be witnessing the opposite. I was greeted with death glares or uncomfortable glances every time I walked into the pavilion, and despite the food's impeccable decadence, I couldn't ignore the frequent glances and mutterings. Worst of all, Clarisse was still laid up in a closed ward in the infirmary. My Greek lessons with Annabeth weren't that bad, though, mainly because I was used to receiving death glares from narrow-minded teachers at this point. Pegasus riding was a whole different ball park. Apparently, Silena has been talking some smack about me to the pegasi so that every single time I try to ride, the creature would do everything in its power to throw me off…or kick me in the head when I'm not looking. There was one Pegasus who didn't seem to resent me, or at least, it didn't recoil or attempt to kill me whenever I approached; it was pure black, almost darker than the night sky on a starless, new moon night. Silena warned me that under no circumstances am I allowed to ride him.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because he belongs to Percy," she snapped with an air of finality as I ducked a ferocious kick from a nearby Pegasus.

Archery wasn't too bad, mainly because it was taught by Chiron. I was okay with a bow and arrow, but given my way, it would just stay in the armory.

"Tobias, hold back for a second," he requested when the conch shell sounded for lesson change. I walked dismally up to Chiron, who stared over me at the other campers as they glanced repeatedly back at us as they made they made their ways elsewhere. When there was no one else around, he said: "There's no need to look uneasy, child."

"I'm not uneasy," I lied uselessly.

"Tobias, I've trained heroes for many eons," Chiron reminded me. "I know the look of a troubled demigod, especially a troubled teenaged demigod." He studied my expression for a few seconds, and, when next he spoke, it was as though he had plucked the thought straight from my brain.

"I do believe you about the incident, involving Miss LaRue," he remarked. I felt my eyes widen in surprise.

"You do?!" I commented in shock. "But…you weren't there! You only saw the end of it! How do you know…"

"Because if you were really truly at odds with Clarisse, you would have never ceased your attack," he deduced logically. "You stopped the duel, ergo, you did not _knowingly_ inject a drug into Clarisse's bloodstream. You showed restraint and compassion towards your fellow camper, despite your loggerhead status, overcoming your own personal grudge. That quality is especially rare in children of Hades. It's extremely and understandably dangerous for them to possess to grudges."

"Right," I responded, not knowing how I should have responded. Chiron shut his eyes and sighed, as though preparing himself for something.

"Mr. Underwood told me an illuminating detail," he began. Oh Lord, here we go… "I heard that you want to leave camp, feeling it would be better for the rest of the campers, is that correct?"

Cursing Grover in the back of my mind, I nodded.

"And you understand why I must deny that?" he went on.

"Because I'm dangerous?" I guessed. Chiron nodded his confirmation. "But what if I don't care about dying? I mean, my parents care too much about cocaine to really care about me, and the people that I hung out with only cared about pot, sex, and punk music. If something happened to one of us, big deal. Let's just smoke the pain away."

There was a weight in my chest, the same dreading weight that strained the muscles of my heart when I finally ran away. Also the same weight that suddenly disappeared when I got attacked by a sphinx just an hour later. Chiron looked sadly at me.

"Unfortunately, there is no way to fix that particular sentiment. Mr. D – and Lord Zeus, too – feel that a psychologist is unnecessary for you youngsters, that your intensive skill training would work your ill feelings out," he said. "But please believe me when I say that I care too much about you to let you put yourself in harm's way…with the intent of dying. So much so that I would send the best search party available to track you down and bring you back to Camp Half-Blood."

I wanted to doubt Chiron, but something his blue eyes let me know that he was not like all the other guidance counselors who told me the exact same thing. His words were like iron shackles, binding him to his word. Still…there would probably be less incidents like Clarisse's if I weren't around. Chiron was wearing the same expression as Grover, looking as though he were reading my thoughts as they were in print.

"Tobias, there are hundreds of teenaged demigods who take up residence here," Chiron explained. "Your incident, nasty as it was, will most certainly not be the last, even if you were to depart and never darken our doorstep again."

 _Damn him_ , I thought bitterly, seeing the truth etched in his words.

"Can I see Clarisse?" I asked before I had a chance to think. Chiron was silent for a few seconds, probably pondering how much of a risk this was.

"Just for a few moments," he accepted, and he led me up to the infirmary, watched hungrily by every camper we passed, including a couple of Ares kids. Silena strode by us, intent upon reaching the stables, determinedly looking in any direction that wasn't mine. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach; Chiron patted me comfortingly on the shoulder.

Annabeth was at Clarisse's side when we arrived, sitting on a stool and chatting animatedly with her. For some reason, this seemed odd, for I had a feeling that they were usually less than cordial with one another.

"Annabeth, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a moment," Chiron announced. Annabeth's eyes narrowed as her gaze found mine and her expression turned instantly into a glare.

"And why should I do that?" she protested. "He shouldn't even be up here, Chiron. He's the reason Clarisse is in here."

"Miss LaRue's present condition was not Tobias' intention," he cut across. "And I implore you to realize that. Now please, leave us, just for a moment."

Annabeth glared at Chiron, and for a moment I was afraid she wasn't going to budge. But she got to her feet and strode out of the room. I had a feeling Clarisse's lying here had forever placed me on Annabeth's 'Do-Not-Forgive' list. I sat down in Annabeth's empty seat and stared down at my combat boots while Clarisse watched the ceiling with exorbitant intent, as though she expected to collapse on us at any moment.

Finally, she spoke up: "I know you didn't mean to, punk."

Her words nearly knocked me off my stool. I had this characterization of Clarisse as the type of person incapable of forgiveness, that I was going to rue the day especially when Clarisse was up and about again. That didn't seem to be the case…or at least, this time, anyways.

"That doesn't mean I'm not angry with you for putting me out of action this Friday," she growled. "Trust me when I say that when I'm one-hundred percent, I'm going to pulverize you, and that's a promise."

Ah, there it is.

"I look forward to it," I countered, again not thinking before I speak. "So, you don't hate me? You don't want to gut me like a deer?"

"I hate everyone at this camp," she muttered. "But no, you are not so special that I hate you more than I do everyone else. That spot is reserved for kelp breath."

"You mean Percy?"

"Whatever," she confirmed. She paused once more, not as though recuperating from a sudden, sharp wave of pain, more like she was steeling herself for whatever it was she was about to say. "You fight good. Even without those stupid daggers."

"You beat my ass for most of it," I pointed out, and here, Chiron cleared his throat disapprovingly, probably at my word choice. "Sorry, it's just that you were kicking my butt for the most part."

"And I probably would've turned you into a pile of mince meat if you hadn't gotten that lucky shot," she agreed. "But accidents happen, punk. You move on with life. You had really powerful weapons, just like I did. Just know that when I get my hands on you again, you're really going to feel it. I'll be ready for you, this time."

I didn't know what to say. Clarisse's mouth twitched slightly; was she grinning at me?

"I think we should let Clarisse rest," Chiron interjected, holding his arm out to me. Clarisse stopped me as got to my feet, her eyes glaring imploringly back into my own.

"Kick some butt for me tomorrow night," she said.

I couldn't help but grin at her.

"Will do," I assured her, prompting a wicked grin from Clarisse as she laid her head back on the pillow, her arms folded behind her head.

Thalia devoted herself to training me in the use of my daggers, her regiment including throwing and close quarters combat, all in the name of preparing me for quote, 'what the Athena cabin had in store'. I had no doubt in my mind that Annabeth, along with every other member on her team, was extremely intent on punishing me for even acquiring the daggers, even though they probably assumed that I stole them myself…or that my Dad had given them to me. Whatever they thought, I guarantee that I don't look good. The night prior to Friday, Thalia thrashed me hard, her feet as light as a gazelle's as she maneuvered around me, slashing and stabbing with her hunter's knives. After a few days of training, it became easier to parry, dodge, and maintain my stance without staggering, even though Thalia still managed to destroy me every single time she stepped across from me. Sweat was pouring down my face despite the temperature being below freezing and the arctic air was making my lungs burn in the effort of keeping up with Thalia. Percy had wheeled out the killer dummy again for Grover to practice with his cudgel; miraculously, he had only been punched in the face twice.

Thalia threw a well-placed, extremely sharp elbow to my ribs and sliced so ferociously that I could've sworn she had sheared off an inch from the top of my hair when I ducked. Somewhat instinctively, I pivoted her arm into an awkward position and maneuvered myself behind her, the blade of my bone dagger across her throat. I felt a rushing in my ear, as though my body could sense the fragility of life, how vulnerable Thalia was…how easily her life could have been extinguished by my hand. Gasping, I pushed her away from me. Based on her expression, she seemed to sense what I felt, as she appeared somewhat relieved.

"That's good," she complemented, breathing heavily. "Well, you'll at least be able to survive against most of Annabeth's cronies, anyways. We should probably discuss tactics while we're here, because you know Annabeth's done it a shit ton with Beckendorf, already." There was a look in her eye, a look that was only a half-step from a knowing expression simply because she lacked proof. Grover seemed to have noticed it too, but a few seconds extended observation cost him dearly in the form of a hook to the side of his face, sending him sprawling into the dirt.

"Percy, will you turn that thing off? We need our team in one piece," Thalia lectured as the dummy performed a strange victory dance. Percy obliged and switched the machine off before going to help Grover to his feet.

After long talk about squads, diversions, plan of attack, and other details, Thalia dismissed us, lingering behind with Percy, who was rambling around, trying to find his sword, Riptide.

"That's a load of minotaur dung," Grover remarked as we set off. "Riptide has an enchantment so that it would always return to Percy's pocket if lost." He careened his neck to keep them in view as we drew further away from them.

"Do you think there's something going on between them? I mean, they were in Thalia's cabin a couple days ago…"

I shrugged, preferring to keep my presumptions to myself just in case I was wrong. The campfire had already been extinguished, and the new moon presence cast a darkness that even I felt unnerved by. I probably would have no clue where the hell we were going if the green torches of my cabin door weren't lit.

"Hold it!" Grover stopped, seizing my arm. "Who's that over there?" He jabbed his finger in the general direction of my cabin. For a couple seconds, I had no clue what he was talking about, but a few seconds' gazing picked out Annabeth, accompanied by a tall, dark figure with a low, yet very audible voice. There was no denying the familiarity of that figure, whoever they were. Nor was there any ignoring the image of Annabeth's arm wrapped around his vaguely muscular arm, laughing at a joke that Grover and I could not comprehend from this distance.

"Isn't that that Beckendorf guy?" I asked. Grover nodded; in the faint light, I could make out the bulging whites of his eyes, his expression distorted in horrified realization.

"Oh no," he mumbled. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no…"

He sounded as though his worst fear had just been confirmed, exaggerated as he watched their procession towards the beach. A part of me, the confused bit, was sure that he was a split second from sprinting the length of camp towards Thalia's cabin, but the logical part of me stood just as rooted as Grover was, simply staring after Annabeth and Beckendorf, both of us acknowledging that Percy was much better off in Thalia's cabin at the moment, woefully ignorant to the tragedy Grover and I beheld.

Grover: That…is so…sad… (blows his nose and wipes a tear from his eye)

Gothicshadows21: Lucky that Percy went to the bathroom so that he wouldn't have to witness this part.

Grover: I just can't...I just can't believe it!

Gothicshadows21: Well, believe it, Goat Boy, because it just happened.

Percy: (shutting the door behind him, faint sounds of a toilet flushing shut out) What just happened?

Grover: Nothing, Perce!

Percy: What did you do to me?

 _Grover and Gothicshadows21 look at each other_.

Gothicshadows21: We'll fill you in during the break. In the meantime, review please! Sorry about the bombshell, but this really is tragic. It's going to take a bit to iron everything out. Stay tuned, Chapter 5 and Capture the Flag is in the making.

Percy: Grover…what happened?

Grover: (sobbing uncontrollably) I can't Percy, I can't…

 _Grover runs from the room; Percy looks at Gothicshadows21_.

Percy: Seriously? Are you guys going to tell me what just happened?

Gothicshadows21: Sit down, Percy…this is going to be a while.


	5. Annabeth Pissed Off the Hermes Cabin

Percy: Are either of you going to tell me what in Hades is going on?

Grover: No

Gothicshdadows21: Best you don't know, buddy

Percy: ( _freaking out_ ) Seriously, what happened to me? What did you do?

 _Grover bursts into tears and Percy glares at Gothicshadows21_

Gothicshadows21: Do the disclaimer for me and I will fill you in…

Percy: Gothicshadows21 by the almighty grace of Zeus does not own PJO, especially with whatever the hell he just did to me! Now are you going to tell me, or what?

Gothicshadows21: _(Tosses Chapter 4 at him_ ) I'm really sorry Percy…just read that.

Chapter 5

Tobias POV

I was jamming out to _Marilyn Manson_ on the cabin loudspeakers when Grover burst into my cabin, his face alight with horror, though I hope not at my music choice. We might have to have a serious talk if it was over my music choice. He was huffing, as though he had just sprinted over here.

"Tobi! Tobi! Tobi!" he gasped, doubled over as he inhaled mouthfuls of oxygen, holding his finger up to me. I switched off _Rock is Dead_ and stared at him, trying to will the air back into his lungs just to rid myself of the suspense his breathlessness just hung over me.

"Bro, calm down, breathe…what happened?"

Whatever it was, it nearly induced a heart attack for Grover. After a few more seconds, he finally stood up, his expression a perfect combination of despair and horrified, like he was lamenting something he had no choice but to do it…whatever it was.

"It's Annabeth!" he announced vaguely, and before I could ask him to expound, he produced from a bag that I had just noticed him wearing (because I've never seen Grover wear a messenger bag before) a silver laptop with a Greek delta symbol. "This thing with Beckendorf goes way back! Like, almost to the Battle of Manhattan! Percy…Percy is going to be so upset…"

"Calm down, calm down," I repeated as Grover started gasping again, dangerously edging closer to hyperventilation. "Did you steal her laptop? Why in Hades would you do that?"

"I had to!" Grover excused, setting the laptop down on a nearby table and switching it on. "I couldn't stand not knowing if she was two-timing my best friend and satyrs don't really have profiles on the Camp chatroom. We're kinda anti-digital…"

"You're the most digital satyr I know," I pointed out, in which Grover glared reproachfully at me. "By any chance, did you manage to scavenge any of Annabeth's battle plans? I haven't got a clue what sort of stuff she could be planning, and Thalia and Percy are both saying they are going without sleep until they have a working theory, so…"

"To be fair, I wasn't really thinking about 'Capture the Flag'," Grover admitted, typing frantically on Annabeth's keyboard. "Still not, to be perfectly honest…look at this!" He pulled up the chatroom, _Demigod Talks_ , and selected her past conversation with Beckendorf. Together, we scrolled through her messages, wincing occasionally when the details exceeded PG13 ratings, both of us growing more and more despondent the longer we read. The worst in my opinion was one that could have passed as a decent five-paragraph essay, in which Annabeth professed her appreciation for Beckendorf and his superiority over Percy, and how she wishes that she could work out a plan for escaping him. She and Percy seemed to fight very frequently, or at least the messages say so; I had a sneaking suspicion that half of these fights were nonexistent and were Annabeth's excuses to see him at 12:06 in the morning. There was a ringing in my ears and I could my face burn from the intensity of my anger, which literally felt like a boiling pot of soup in my stomach.

 _Screw not using my daggers_ , I thought bitterly.

"I agree one hundred percent," Grover mumbled. I shot him a look, indignant at continual reading of and responding to my thoughts. "What are we going to do?"

"You mean, aside from 'accidentally scratching her cheek' with my dagger?" I began, raising my eyebrow. "Just beat the snot out of her at Capture the Flag and then worry about humiliation later. You mind surfing her files and find any sort of strategy?"

"Already on it," Grover said, somewhat absentmindedly, his eyes glued to screen, pounding away frantically on the keys of her laptop, as though his life depended upon this. We stood in silence for several minutes, Grover's fingers clicking rapidly against the keyboard for a span as he stared at the laptop screen and to attempt to lessen the suspense of the prospect at finding a potential strategy, I busied myself by staring outside through the cabin window. Chiron was leading a group of Apollo campers down to the archery range. A procession of Ares campers was making its way to the forges, their arms laden with weapons; I half wondered how many fights would break out, especially since the Hephaestus cabin frequents the forges and would have undoubtedly, taken advantage of it hours prior to Capture the Flag. Percy and Thalia were at the Big Three table, talking with serious expressions on their faces. My heart sank as my gaze found Silena striding across the promenade as she chatted animatedly amongst her friends. The other night, Thalia, Percy, Grover, and I overheard her from the Big Three table that she wished Chiron had placed the Aphrodite cabin on Annabeth's team, mainly because she didn't want to fight alongside 'the guy who incapacitated my best friend'. Her words were echoing in a distant chamber in the back of my mind as I watched her, snow flecking her brown hair as she proceeded to the pavilion for breakfast. For some reason, as though she could sense me watching her, she turned in the direction of my cabin. I hastily pulled the curtains shut and positioned myself beside Grover, who threw his hands up in defeat and sat back in his chair, defeated.

"I can't find anything!" Grover moaned, his hands over his face. "The only thing I could find was a zipped folder in some folder called, 'Classified', and we need a password to get into it. I don't have a clue what it could be. I tried hers and Percy's anniversary, but it didn't work. Also tried the day she met Thalia and Luke, the day the Titan army was defeated. Haven't tried the day Thalia got turned into a pine tree yet, though…"

"Thalia got turned into a pine tree?" I interjected, raising my eyebrow at him. Grover nodded and launched into the story of how Thalia and Luke met Annabeth and how there were so many monsters chasing them that it would have been impossible for them to make it across the camp's enchanted borders, so Thalia sacrificed herself for Luke and Annabeth, and upon her death, Zeus took pity upon her and turned her into a pine tree.

I flashbacked back to the night in which Grover and I managed to make it into camp. We had just managed to lose the Nemean Lion when, right after the moment we got out of Manhattan, we ran across the pride of manticores. Grover and I had sprinted like we had never sprinted before, and the manticores roaring in pursuit, throwing volleys of thorns so thick they'd obscure the sky. Forests were our best friends, even if we would pick up another monster or two, like a dracaena or Aethiopian Drakon. Every time we would leave the cover of trees, the manticores would gain on us, their jaws foaming hungrily at the sight of us. And then, two more people appeared beside us, a guy with medium length blonde hair, about my age, and a small girl with blonde hair, who I presume was Annabeth. The three furies were flapping overhead, their whips cracking and burning the air around us, and the intermingling roars of monsters that had suddenly picked up our scent, making it impossible to tell them apart. The minotaur, the chimera, the hydra, harpies, the Nemean Lion, a few cyclops, all of them seemed to have materialized out of nowhere to chase us, and what was worse, they were gaining on us. Somehow knowing that it was me that they wanted most, I barked at the blonde guy, who I called Luke, to take Annabeth and Grover and get to camp, that I'd hold off the monsters long enough for them to cross. I readied my spear and my shield and charged at the nearest dracaena, catching her between the eyes. As she wailed and disintegrated, I whirled my spear in a wide arc, slicing monsters across their torsos and turning them into piles of dust. I jabbed at the Nemean Lion, nearly catching the beast in its open mouth, only for my spear to be batted away by a nearby cyclops. Without thinking, I kicked it in the stomach and jabbed my spear into its breadbasket. As it burst into dust, a spiked club swung and sent me soaring through the air, landing hard on the grass. I could feel blood gushing down my chest and my shirt was soaked within seconds. I staggered to my feet, readying myself to fight again until a burning whip had cracked across the back of my hand, forcing me to drop my spear, which was kicked aside by the minotaur. It smacked the butt of its battle axe against my cheek and I hit the ground again. I rolled onto my back and the minotaur raised its axe in climactic sort of way, as though about to deliver the final blow. Out of desperation, I thrust my shield at the minotaur like a priest with a crucifix when compelling demons. The minotaur cowered, whimpering slightly, but Alecto's whip cracked against my cheek this time. Blinded by pain, I hadn't noticed a large and heavy foot placing itself upon my sternum, holding me down.

 _Father…please…_ I prayed as I felt whatever had its foot on me, a cyclops most likely, and suddenly, the monsters went away. I made to get to my feet, but found my limps rigid as though I had been turned to stone.

"Tobi?"

I jumped, completely forgetting that Grover was in my cabin. He had shut the laptop, a knowing look in his eyes, as though he had watched the same scene as I had witnessed. He slid his laptop into the bag and fastened the strap.

"Find anything?" I asked him, trying to lessen the tension. Grover shook his head, looking dejectedly at the closed laptop. "Maybe you should try that…I really feel like that would be it."

"Why do you think that?"

I stared at him, trying to think of a sufficient answer. Somehow, I didn't think seeing the vision of Thalia's final moments would be convincing enough, not to mention Grover would think I was off my rocker…not like I wasn't already, but…worth a shot, right?

"I don't know, just got a feeling," I said awkwardly, feeling my face burn. Grover looked suspiciously at me, but opened the laptop once again, located the folder, and typed in the date.

"It worked!" he announced as the screen pulled up about a billion different files, grinning triumphantly, although this was replaced almost instantly by an inquiring look. "How did you know this would work?"

"Lucky guess?" I lied, trying to block Grover from my thoughts, but I could have just as easily detached my arm. Well, that would be harder if I wasn't in a place full of swords… I listened to Grover hum an indistinct tune as he leaned closer to the laptop; it sounded vaguely like some overplayed pop song that if my mind wasn't preoccupied with the impending doom of 'Capture the Flag', I could have picked out the name.

"Here's something," Grover announced, pulling up a file Annabeth had labeled, 'Fires of Cain'. "Oh no…" He pushed himself back as though what he had just pulled up threatened to leap from the screen and throttle him, his desk chair rolling the length between my bed and the wall, bouncing off with a loud bang.

"What?" I asked frantically, stepping in front of the laptop. Grover didn't say anything, capable only of pointing wordlessly at the screen. I located the first line of the document and instantly found the piece, though why it was worth him ricocheting from my cabin walls is a mystery known only to him.

"'To My Sweet Charles'," was the opening line. Below it was the most ambiguous battle plan I had ever seen, as though Annabeth had expected the theft of her laptop and correlatively, the depths to which Thalia and Percy were willing to sink…even though they most likely have no idea that Grover and I were doing this. The only thing I was able to discern was the location of the flag, which, according to Annabeth, was to be placed, "just past the beginning of the infinite underground".

"There's an entrance to the labyrinth here?" I asked Grover, peering over my shoulder at him. Grover gulped and nodded in confirmation.

"She didn't hide it within the entrance of the labyrinth, did she?" he asked nervously. "If she did, I'm sorry, Tobi, but your team is going to have to be a satyr short."

"She didn't hide it in the labyrinth," I contradicted. "She hid it just past the entrance. I assume Percy and Thalia would know where this thing was at." Again, Grover nodded.

"It's near Zeus' Fist, if you know what this is," he explained. "Might actually be on top of Zeus' Fist, now that I am thinking about it. Yeah, that would make sense. That would make perfect sense. Make it a challenge to even get to the flag once we locate it."

"Right, so what challenges are we looking at?" I asked him. Grover consulted the document once more, scrolling through the two-page outline, shaking his head unknowingly. "Great, so we're just going have to wing it, right?"

"No, I have my suspicions," he interjected. "Trust me, I'll let you know." He slammed the laptop shut abruptly and shoved it back into the bag. "We gotta show this thing to Percy and Thalia! C'mon Tobi!"

And without waiting for me to pull on my boots, he threw the door open and sprinted across the promenade towards the pavilion, hunched over slightly to overcome the weight and awkwardness of the messenger bag. I pulled on my combat boots and dashed after him, immediately cursing myself for not pulling on a jacket. Percy and Thalia's plates of eggs and bacon had been pushed roughly aside by Grover to make room for the laptop, ignoring the slightly resentful looks from Percy and Thalia from being interrupted.

"Grover, what the Hades…"

"Look at this!" Grover cut across urgently, relocating the zipped folder and typing in the password. "By the way, Annabeth used the date when you, Luke, and she got to Camp Half-Blood."

"Yeah, yeah, goat boy," Thalia brushed aside, looking uncomfortable, as though the memory of being turned into a pine tree was still painfully etched in her brain. "Get to the point, what are we looking at?"

"What are we looking at?" Grover repeated incredulously. "We're looking at the key to beating Annabeth! We've got her _entire_ battle strategy right in the palms of our hands!" He stressed the word, 'entire', emphatically double-clicking the file. Percy and Thalia combed through the document while Grover had snatched at a plate from a cleaning harpy at the last second as she collected them, ordering scrambled eggs and avocado, which materialized out of thin air. The harpy glared reproachfully at Grover as he wolfed down his eggs and avocado while Thalia and Percy absorbed the battle plans, leaving me the sole witness to the few seconds lapse in which Percy's eyes, whether out of boredom or something much more significant, drifted up to look at Thalia. Despite only having a fraction of his face within view, I could have made out a small smile, the kind of smile easily wiped away from the person of interest catches you looking at them. After a few seconds, Thalia looked suspiciously at Grover, whose mouth was contorted in a wide grin as he chewed a large bite of avocado.

"Did you steal Annabeth's laptop?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. Grover choked on his ingestion of avocado, prompting Percy to pound him on the back. "You did, didn't you? I though Satyrs were supposed to be anti-digital."

"Blah-ha-ha, just because it's digital doesn't mean that it isn't eco-friendly," Grover bleated in protest. "And besides, I had to! I couldn't just sit without knowing whether Annabeth was HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY ZEUS ON OLYMPUS!"

I threw my hand out in desperation before Grover could rat himself out and before I realized what I was holding, pinched and twisted in an attempt to silence his rambling. Grover batted my hand aside and rubbed his chest soothingly.

"What the hell, Tobi?!" he demanded as Thalia and Percy watched us with bewildered expressions.

"Sorry, my hand slipped," I excused, trying to force my thought into his mind to stay quiet. And when Percy and Thalia continued to look confused, added, "We'll tell you about it later tonight."

Percy looked as though he didn't think much of this, but Thalia patted his arm comfortingly. Grover finished off his eggs and avocado, found the cleaning harpy who was just finishing her rounds in the pavilion for dirty dishes, and placed his plate in her bucket. She stared resentfully after him, as though contemplating whether or not eating him was enough payback, but then contented herself in taking her bucket of dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

Percy POV

Thalia called a team meeting in the arena almost immediately after breakfast, which made most of the Ares campers angry. Most of them were grumbling about not having sharpened their blades enough and chinks and their armor. Clarisse surprisingly could make an appearance, although Chiron still wasn't going to let her participate, which she wasn't pleased. She stood beside Silena, leaning up against a nearby post with her arms crossed; there were shadows under her eyes, probably lingering effects from the drug in Tobias' daggers. Grover stood nearby with Tobias, who was stealing wishful glances at Silena, who was staring determinedly in any direction that wasn't his and Grover's.

Thalia rolled the automaton practice dummy, along with three others to the center of the arena.

"Um, Thalia? What are you planning to do with those?" I asked nervously, sincerely hoping that she wasn't about to turn those on, set them on the highest setting (incidentally labeled 'Achilles'), and make us fight them.

Percy: Hold up, hold up, hold up – what's the deal with the dummies? Why do you always have them kick our asses?

Gothicshadows21: Because I can. And the audience loves it.

Percy: You've got a sick sense of humor.

Grover: Seconded

Gothicshadows21: Can we get back to the story now?

Percy: Fine…

"You'll see in a second," Thalia replied vaguely, standing the fourth one beside the others so that they formed a small row, their blank faces making them look somewhat eerie, and a few nearby Aphrodite campers scooted away nervously, tossing anxious glances at them every couple seconds. The group seemed somewhat larger than I had expected, but Thalia seemed not to be surprised by this at all.

"As you can see, we have some defectors," she announced, pointing a large group of campers, in which, at the forefront, stood Connor and Travis Stoll. I mentally kicked myself; I should have spotted them instantly. "I say we permit them to tell us why they've decided to jump ship and decide if we want to keep them."

"What do you think we're going to do? Report back to Annabeth?" Connor protested, an angry look on his face. "We don't want to be on her team! She's a two-faced b-…"

I glared at him, daring Connor to finish his sentence, but he shut his mouth, determinedly resuming his silence; a part of me wanted him to dare to finish that statement. What had Annabeth done to make the entire Hermes cabin decide to switch teams? What about her was so upsetting to Connor and Travis? Thalia glanced nervously at me, and Tobias and Grover were for some reason looking more nervous than she did, like they knew what that something was

"Okay," Thalia said hesitantly. "So…I guess it's down to the vote. All in favor of allowing the Hermes cabin to stay?"

Nearly all the campers put their hands up, with the exception of Silena and a couple other Aphrodite campers, who were all looking incredulously at Clarisse for putting her hand up.

"I guess it's decided," Thalia went on. "They will stay. But…" She shot a warning look at Travis and Connor. "If this whole thing turns out to be an elaborate double-cross, losing Capture the Flag will be the least of your worries."

"I have a question!" Silena interjected, thrusting her hand in the air. And, without waiting for Thalia's acknowledgement, went on, "Why is it that a loyally expedient cabin can stay on the team without too much question, but no one questions the danger of Tobias being on our team. He doesn't even feel sorry about using those daggers on Clarisse and he's probably going to use those daggers on someone tonight! Some of those other campers are close friends of ours, but no one is going to say a damn word!"

Tobias looked as though life was rapidly siphoning from his being, looking more and more dejected as the seconds ticked away. Thalia glared at Silena.

"I don't question Tobias because he didn't intend to hurt Clarisse the way he did!" Thalia fired back. "You didn't see him stop the duel because you went to get help! He knew something was wrong! We all did!"

"You only say that because you wanted to…"

"Shut up, Silena!" I interrupted so forcefully that Silena had closed her mouth. "This is just like before the Battle of Manhattan! We're fighting amongst each other like children. If we don't figure out how to come together, Annabeth and Beckendorf are going to run through us!"

Travis and Connor suddenly looked as tense as Tobias and Grover, the same knowing look in their eyes. Thalia elaborated Annabeth's plan to the group and her plans to counterattack. Cue to introduce the dummies.

"Each group, minus the capture team, is going to travel with one of these dummies," Thalia remarked. "Trust me when I say that they are not programmed to recognize allies…yet." She emphasized the word, "yet", as though this were a plan implemented. If it was, she hasn't told me about it. "Anyways, when Annabeth's team starts to converge, just switch the dummy on and set it to 'Achilles'. Trust me, they will definitely have issues fighting this thing. The Hephaestus cabin has no clue that we intend to use these things."

Afterwards, she began to divide the campers into four groups, all of whom she rolled a practice dummy. Me, Thalia, Tobias, and Grover comprised the capture group, which Silena grudgingly accepted, probably because she realized that she didn't have to be around Tobias.

Tobias was having issues strapping on his armor, and when Thalia took pity upon him, he contented himself to smaller, less dense leather pieces to make himself nimbler, so he said. Grover continued to flash me sad glances, looking as though he was about to do something against his better judgment. After a couple minutes of this, he contented himself with turning his back on me to sit on the hill and stare meditatively out across the strawberry fields.

"What's up, G-man?" I asked him, sitting down beside him.

"We're going to get destroyed," Grover said simply, like he was giving me a weather forecast. Probably. Most likely. I don't think even Thalia took in enough of a plan to counterattack Annabeth sufficiently. But still. Have to be optimistic, don't I?

"Nah, I think we're good," I lied. "Annabeth and Beckendorf won't know what hit them!"

"Your subconscious says otherwise," he contradicted. Oh, my Zeus, that's getting annoying, him reading my thoughts.

"You're going to have to stop doing that, bud," I advised him. "People don't like having their thoughts read all the time." Grover shrugged in a slightly apologetic sort of way.

"I know, but sometimes I can't help it Perce," he excused. "Especially with you and Tobias thinking so loud. Holy crap, I wish you two would keep your thoughts quieter."

"I'll work on it," I replied somewhat irritably. "But then again, whatever you think about is plastered all over your face half the time. Especially right now. What's bothering you, buddy?"

Grover looked more uncomfortable than I had ever seen him, even more uncomfortable than when he told me that he was the satyr who failed at getting Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth across Half-Blood Hill. The kind of uncomfortable in which I knew Grover was hiding something, but for some reason, this whole empathy link was a one-way transaction: Grover can read my thoughts, but I can't read his.

"I…I don't really want to talk about it Percy," he lied, looking every bit like he wanted to tell me. But something was holding him back.

"Grover, what's wrong?" I pressed. Grover shook his head in refusal again, the final straw for my frustration to burst like an overflowing dam. "Grover, you haven't looked me in the eye for weeks…months. Even when you were in Chicago, you barely returned any of my messages, and even then, they were vague as hell. You couldn't even let me know why you even went in the first place! Something is definitely bugging you Grover, so what is it!"

"You know we can't use cell phones, Percy!" Grover protested. "Chicago is a freaking warzone! Monsters roaming around on the streets at every corner. They were smelling Nico and Tobias, so you know all the monsters even remotely close to the state of Illinois were making their way towards them, two children of the Big Three in one place. The only reason they had a hard time zeroing in on Tobias was because of who he was around. All they were smelling when he wasn't alone was cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol. Why do you think it took me so long to find him and befriend him?"

"You were acting like this long before you even went to Chicago!" I fired back. "Long before you even knew about Tobias! This has something to do with me, or else you wouldn't have even volunteered to go out there in the first place. There were plenty of other satyrs to do this job."

Grover looked slightly hurt.

"How can you say that Percy?" he said. "After all we've been through…"

"Grover, buddy, I'm sorry!" I apologized, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Grover, I am so sorry. It just bothers me that you won't tell me what's going on? We're supposed to be best friends! We have a freaking empathy link!"

"I will tell you after Capture the Flag if you can tell me something right now," Grover proposed.

"I asked you first," I argued.

"I don't care," Grover remarked, and he took a deep breath, exhaling as he steeled himself for whatever it as he was about to ask. "What's going between you and Thalia? You and she have been alone far too often for there not to be anything going on."

I felt my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. There really wasn't any satisfactory answer I could give Grover. I flashed back to the time Silena and I woke Thalia up after she had overslept, how right before she punched me in the face, I could make out a section of her collarbone. I flashed back to when Thalia invited me into her cabin and my discovery of her being an artist. I remember how I felt when I gazed into her electric blue eyes, how it felt when she was playfully kicking me from her bed, how it felt she hugged me.

"You don't need to tell me, Percy," he remarked. "I know exactly how you feel."

I looked at him resentfully, but then softened when I saw him grinning at me…in a sort of confirmation…

Percy: Are you ever going to get the fight scenes? Holy Zeus, you drag this on for so long.

Gothicshadows21: That's the next chapter, Percy. I promise. Be patient. Plus, you and Tobias get to have your badass moments.

Percy: As long as I don't get blown up or sliced up, I'm okay with that.

 _Gothicshadows21 stays quiet for a few seconds. Percy looks suspiciously at him_.

Percy: Wait, nothing happens to me, right?

 _Gothicshadows21 continues to stay quiet_.

Percy: RIGHT?

Gothicshadows21: Yes, Percy, nothing bad happens to you

Grover: Does something bad happen to me?

Gothicshadows21: No, nothing bad happens to you either, Grover! I made sure you were safe

Grover: Oh, good!

Gothicshadows21: Alrighty guys, sit tight and review please! College just started back up, so I will write Chapter 6 when I can. I promise that Chapter 6 is going to have plenty of content and action scenes for Percy's stereotypical douchebagness. Be patient with me and enjoy! Reread, review, and help me come up with stuff. I will hint that there will be quests later. Notice the plurality. Still don't own Percy Jackson, wish I did, but probably never will.

Percy: Thank Zeus for that!


End file.
